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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/presbyterianbaptOOmorr 


PRESBYTERIAN 
BAPTIST    AND    METHODIST 

TESTIMONY    TO 

CONFIRMATION, 

AS   A   PRIMITIVE   AND   APOSTOLIC  RITE. 

WITNESSES: 

CALVIN,  BEZA,  BAXTER,  PISCATOR,  JOHN  MILTON, 
WESTMINSTER   DIVINES,  PRESBYTERIAN   GE- 
NERAL ASSEMBLY,  HANMER,  BAPTIST  CON- 
SESSIONS,  COMER,  OSTERVALD,  COLMAN, 
WESLEY,  ADAM  CLARKE,  4c,  Ac. 

COMPILED    BY 

THE  REV,  B.  WISTAR  MORRIS, 

ASSISTANT   MINISTER   OF   ST.    LCKE'8  CHCBCH,    GERMAJfTOW.Y. 


THE    SONS   OF   STRANGERS   SHALL   BUILD   THY   WALLS. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 
BURNS      &      S    I    E    G, 

COR.  EIGHTH  AND  CHESTNUT  STS. 
1860. 


COLLINS,    PRINTER. 


rEEFACE 


The  humblest  effort  to  restore  the  Unity 
of  the  Christian  family,  if  undertaken  in  a 
spirit  of  "  meekness  and  fear,"  ought  to  re- 
ceive the  encouragement  of  all  good  christian 
people.  Much  has  been  said,  of  late,  concern- 
ing the  evils  of  a  divided  Christendom,  and 
various  expedients  have  been  adopted  to  re- 
store that  primitive  unity,  the  loss  of  which 
is  now  every  where  deplored  as  the  sorest 
evil  the  Church  labours  under.  It  is  also  be- 
coming more  and  more  manifest  to  calm  and 
reflecting  men,  that,  if  we  desire  primitive 
unity,  we  must  seek  it  through  the  restora- 
tion of  primitive  institutions  and  primitive  doc- 
trines. Modern  and  human  expedients  having 
so  often  failed,  will  fail  again ;  and  there 
seems  to  be  a  growing  conviction  in  the 
minds  of  many  men  that  we  had  better  go 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

back  to  the  "  old  paths,"  and  walk  again  in 
the  ways  of  our  Fathers. 

The  compiler  of  the  present  little  work  is 
well  convinced  in  his  own  mind  that  this  is 
the  true  course,  and  here  offers  a  humble  help 
to  those  who  seek  to  know  what  were  the  in- 
stitutions and  doctrines  of  "the  Primitive 
Church  in  her  purest  days."  It  is  the  begin- 
ning of  a  plan  which  he  purposes,  if  allowed, 
to  carry  on,  in  reference  to  several  other  points 
of  Church  practice  and  doctrine. 

Confirmation,  being  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent peculiarities  of  our  Church,  and  one 
which  we  are  so  often  called  upon  to  explain 
and  defend,  is  first  taken  up,  as  a  fit  introduc- 
tion to  other  doctrines  and  practices  of  equal 
authority  and  antiquity.  Instead  of  any  new 
arguments  for  the  scriptural  authority  for 
this  rite — for  its  universal  prevalence  for  the 
first  fifteen  hundred  years  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  for  its  practical  utility,  the 
present  effort  is  simply  to  bring  together  the 
admissions  of  distinguished  men  in  those 
Christian  bodies  which  have  laid  this  rite  aside 
— to  give  the  statements  of  their  confessions 
of  faith — and  the  history  of  the  struggles  to 


PREFACE.  0 

maintain  tin's  primitive  practice,  among  those, 
who,  in  so  many  other  things,  have  departed 
from  the  early  usages  of  the  Church.  If  the 
authority  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Primitive 
Church  were  in  view  it  could  be  produced 
with  great  ease,  and  the  writings  of  Tertul- 
lian,  Cyprian,  Cornelius,  Dionysius,  Cyril, 
Eusebius,  Optatus,  Jerome,  Pacian,  Ambrose, 
Augustine,  Chrysostom,  and  many  others, 
will  furnish  the  amplest  testimony  to  the 
primitive  and  apostolic  origin  of  Confirma- 
tion. These,  however,  seem  to  be  distrusted 
witnesses,  and  passing  them  all  by,  none  will 
be  called  up  but  those  who  lived  in,  and  after, 
the  times  of  the  Eeformation,  and  who  were, 
and  are,  anti- Episcopal*  in  regard  to  the  minis- 
try, and  whose  descendants  have  long  ago 
laid  aside  this  "  ordinance  of  Christ,"  which 
their  fathers  so  much  approved,  and  in  many 
cases  strove  so  hard  to  preserve.  The  motive 
to  presenting  the  argument  in  this  form, 
is  the  prevalent  spirit  of  deference  to  author- 
ity in   all  matters   of  religion.     Boastful  as 

*  The  only  exception  to  this  is  in  the  cases  of  the 
Waldenses  and  Bohemian  Brethren  who  were  Episco- 
pal in  their  ministry.     See  page  43. 
1* 


(5  PREFACE. 

is  this  age  of  its  independence  in  religious 
doctrines,  there  never  was  a  time  when  the 
masses  of  men  paid  more  deference  to  au- 
thority than  at  the  present  time.  But  it 
is  to  the  authority  of  the  pastor  or  preacher 
of  the  day.  It  is  altogether  a  superficial 
generation  in  questions  concerning  the  doc- 
trines, discipline  and  usages  of  the  Church, 
and  most  men  quietly  receive  their  faith  at 
the  hands  of  some  distinguished  Doctor  or 
Professor  of  their  "  denomination."  But  if 
men  will  defer  to  human  authority, — if  they 
must  call  some  man  master,  let  it  be  those 
who  are  best  entitled  to  this  deference,  who 
were  no  tyros  in  divinity  or  history,  and  who 
have  been  in  so  many  other  things  the  ac- 
knowledged masters  to  their  fathers,  and  to 
their  father's  fathers. 

This  compilation  contains  matter  that  is 
wholly  inaccessible  to  those  of  the  laity,  or 
clergy  who  are  remote  from  our  large  public 
and  private  libraries,  and  it  is  now  presented 
in  this  brief  and  portable  form,  hoping  it 
may  be  of  practical  usefulness  in  the  work  of 
extending  and  building  up  the  Church.  It  is 
hoped  that  in  the  hands  of  our  clergy, — mis- 


PREFACE.  7 

nonaries  and  others — where  the  Church  is 

new  and  unknown,  and  all  her  peculiarities 
regarded  with  disfavor,  this  little  tract  may 
serve  to  soften  prejudice,  and  lead  men  to  the 
calm  and  dispassionate  examination  of  her 
claims  ;  that  through  the  faithful  reception  of 
this  "Apostolic  rite  "  they  may  receive  the 
"  best  gifts  "  and  be  guided  into  the  "  more 
excellent  way." 

If  it  is  found  to  be  of  any  such  use,  the  au- 
thor will  be  encouraged  to  go  on  in  his  plan, 
with  other  subjects,  such  as  an  Apostolic 
Ministry,  Episcopacy,  Liturgies,  &c.,  and  to 
show  that,  before  men's  passions  and  preju- 
dices were  enlisted  in  the  controversy,  it  was 
almost,  if  not  quite,  universally  acknowledged 
that  all  these  were  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Primitive  and  Apostolic  Church ;  while  a  min- 
istry, not  Apostolic  in  its  origin,  or  Episcopal 
in  its  form,  was  confessed  by  those  who  held 
it,  to  be  a  departure  from  primitive  usage  and 
only  defensible  on  the  ground  of  urgent  ne- 
cessity. Much  material  of  this  kind  is  al- 
ready in  hand,  and  much  more  remains  scat- 
tered throughout  the  theological  literature  of 
an  early  day,  which  time  and  industry  can 


8  PREFACE. 


alone  collect  and  arrange.  If,  by  these  or 
any  other  means,  the  severed  families  of 
Christ's  people  can  be  brought  to  reverence 
what  Melancthon  called  "  simple  and  sincere 
antiquity,"  a  great  point  will  be  gained.  We 
shall  then  be  so  near  the  only  source  of  truth 
that,  "  in  the  bright  beams  of  its  light,"  we 
may  "  see  eye  to  eye,"  and  so  walk  that  we 
shall  all  be  one  in  Christ  Jesus. 


C  A  L  Y  I  N 


FRENCH  AND  GERMAN  PROTESTANT  DIVINES. 


CALVIN.  * 


Confirmation,  or  laying  on  of  hands, 
which  is  declared  by  the  Church  to  be  prac- 
ticed "  after  the  example  of  the  holy  Apos- 
tles," though  a  peculiarity  in  many  parts  of 
this  country,  was  the  uniform  custom  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  for  the  first  fifteen  hundred 
years,  and  is  now  continued,  with  some  vari- 
ety in  the  manner  of  administering,  it  by 
more  than  nineteen-iwentieths  of  the  Christian 
world.  This  alone  would  present  to  many 
minds  an  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of 
its  authority  and  utility.  It  will  seem  in- 
credible, to  not  a  few,  that  the  Eomish 
Church,  the  Greek  Church,  the  Church  of 
Sweden,  the  Lutheran  Church,  the  German 
Reformed  Church,  the  Waldenses,  the  Bohe- 
mians, the  Moravians,  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land,   the   Protestant   Episcopal   Church  in 

(ii) 


12  CALVIN. 


America,  the  Mennonists,  the  Six-principle 
Baptists,  and  many  others,  should  all  have 
received  and  continued  a  practice  which  is 
without  authority  in  the  word  of  God,  and 
without  utility  in  the  Church.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  this  weight  of  authority  in  this  agree- 
ment of  such  a  vast  proportion  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  there  is  the  additional  testimony 
of  those  religious  bodies  and  those  promi- 
nent and  leading  divines,  in  whose  systems 
this  rite  has  no  place.  To  give  these  admis- 
sions is  the  purpose  of  the  present  pages. 
We  shall  begin  with  the  celebrated  Calvin, 
who  deservedly  stands  at  the  head  of  all  Pres- 
byterian divines. 

Although  this  distinguished  Eeformer  re- 
jected this  rite  from  his  system,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  his  belief  in  its  primitive 
and  apostolic  origin.  "We  give  two  extracts 
from  his  writings  touching  this  subject.  In 
the  first  of  these,  written  in  1536,  while  he 
so  heartily  approves  of  Confirmation,  and 
declares  its  '  antiquity,  he  yet  questions  its 
apostolicity .  In  the  second,  which  was  writ- 
ten in  1549,  thirteen  years  later,  he  admits 
that  the  origin  of  this  ceremony  flowed  from 


CALVIN.  13 


the  Apostles.    In  his  Institutes,  Book  4,  ch, 
xix.  Calvin  thus  writes: 

"It  was  an  ancient  custom  in  the  church 
for  the   children   of   Christians,   after 
were  come  to  the  years  of  discretion,  to  be 
presented  to  the  Bishop  in  order  to  fulfill 
that  duty  which  was  required  of  adults  who 
offered    themselves   to   baptism.     For   such 
persons  were    placed    among    the   catechu- 
mens,   till,    being    duly   instructed    in    the 
mysteries  of  Christianity,  they  were  enabled 
to  make  a  confession  of  their  faith  before  the 
Bishop  and  all  the  people.     Therefore,  those 
who  had  been  baptized  in  their  infancy  be- 
cause they  had  not  then  made  such  a  confes- 
sion before  the  church,  at  the  close  of  child- 
hood, or  the  beginning  of  adolescence,  were 
a  presented  by  their  parents,  and  were 
examined  by  the  Bishop,  according  to  the 
form  of  the  catechism  which  was  then  in  com- 
mon use.     That  this  exercise  which  deserved 
to  be  regarded  as  sacred  and  solemn,  mio-ht 
have  the  greater  dignity  and  reverence,  they 
also  practised  the  ceremony  of  the  imposition 
of  hands.    Thus  the  youth,  after  havino-  given 
satisfaction   respecting   his    faith,    was  dis- 
missed with  a  solemn  benediction.     This  c 
torn  is  frequently  mentioned  by  the  ancient  wri- 
ters. ...    And  though  I  confess  that  Jerome 
is  not  altogether  correct  in  stating  it  to  have 
been  a  custom  of  the  Apostles;  yet  he  is  yqtv 


2 


14  CALVIN, 


far  from  the  absurdities  now  maintained  by 
the  Romanists.  Such  an  imposition  of  hands, 
therefore.,  as  is  simply  connected  with  bene- 
diction, I  highly  approve,  and  wish  it  were 
now  restored  to  its  primitive  use,  uncorrupted 
by  superstition?1 

After  arguing  at  large,  and  with  great 
earnestness,  against  the  invention  of  Rome 
which  makes  Confirmation  a  Sacrament,  and 
against  the  "  preposterous  mimicry"  of  the 
chrism,  Calvin  says  in  conclusion  of  this 
chapter — 

"  I  sincerely  wish  we  retained  the  custom, 
which  I  have  stated  was  practised  among  the 
ancients  before  this  abortive  image  of  a  sa- 
crament made  its  appearance.  For  it  was 
not  such  a  confirmation  as  the  Romanists  pre- 
tend, which  cannot  be  mentioned  without 
injury  to  baptism;  but  catechetical  exercise, 
in  which  children  or  youths  used  to  deliver 
an  account  of  their  faith,  in  the  presence  of 
the  church.  Now  it  would  be  the  best  mode 
of  catechetical  instruction,  if  a  formulary 
were  written  for  this  purpose,  containing  and 
stating,  in  a  familiar  manner,  all  the  articles 
of  our  religion,  in  which  the  universal  church 
of  believers  ought  to  agree,  without  any  con- 
troversy. A  boy  of  ten  years  of  age  might 
present  himself  to  make  a  confession  of  his 


CALVIN.  15 


faith;  he  might  be  questioned  on  all  the  ar- 

and  might  give  suitable  answers:  if  he 
were  ignorant  of  an}T,  or  did  not  fully  under- 
stand them,  he  should  be  taught.  Thus  the 
church  would  witness  his  profession  of  the 
only  true  and  pure  faith,  in  which  all  the 
community  of  believers  unanimously  wor- 
ship the  one  God.  If  this  discipline  were 
observed  in  the  present  day,  it  would  cer- 
tainly sharpen  the  inactivity  of  some  parents, 
who  carelessly  neglect  the  instruction  of 
their  children  as  a  thing  in  which  they  have 
no  concern;  but  which,  in  that  case,  they 
could  not  neglect  without  public  disgrace ; 
there  would  be  more  harmoDy  of  faith  among 
Christian  people,  nor  would  many  betray 
such  ignorance  and  want  of  information ; 
some  would  not  be  so  easily  carried  away 
with  novel  and  strange  tenets ;  in  short,  all 
would  have  a  regular  acquaintance  with 
Christian  doctrine." — Institutes,  Book  4,  ch. 
xlx.  sec.  13. 

Taken  in  connection  with  what  has  been 
given  above,  where  he  says  that  this  "  cate- 
chetical exercise"  was  connected  with  the 
"ceremony  of  the  laying  on  of  the  hands,r 
this  is  as  complete  a  description  of  the  "  Or- 
der of  Confirmation,"  as  now  practised  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  as  if  Calvin  had  prepared 


16  CALVIN. 


that  form  to  suit  his  own  ideas.  Calvin's 
more  mature  views  on  the  origin  of  this  rite 
are  found  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  written  after  thirteen  years 
of  additional  study  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church. 

The  first  two  verses  of  the  6th  cap.  of 
this  Epistle  has  always  been  claimed  as 
apostolic  authority  for  Confirmation,  as  now 
practiced  in  the  Church.  In  his  Commentary 
on  this  passage,  Calvin  says  : 

"The  Apostle  here  joins  the  imposition, 
or  the  laying  on  of  hands  with  baptism,  be- 
cause, as  there  were  two  orders  of  catechu- 
mens, therefore  the  ceremony  was  two-fold. 
Eor  those  who  were  without,  were  not  admitted 
to  baptism  until  they  had  delivered  their  con- 
fession of  faith.  In  these,  therefore,  catechis- 
ing went  before  baptism.-  But  the  children  of 
believers,  since  they  were  adopted  from  the 
womb,  and  belonged  to  the  body  of  the 
church,  by  right  of  promise,  were  baptized 
while  infants ;  and  when  the  season  of  in- 
fancy had  passed  away,  and  they  had  been 
instructed  in  the  faith,  they  also  offered 
themselves  to  be  catechised;  which  cate- 
chising in  their  case  was  subsequent  to  bap- 
tism. But  then  another  rite  was  applied  to 
them  :    namely,    the    laying    on    of    hands. 


BEZA.  17 


Tin's  one  passage  (Hebrews  vi.  2)  abun- 
dantly proves  that  the  origin  of  this  ceremony 
flowed  from  the  Apostles ;  although  it' was 
alter  ward  turned  into  superstition,  as  the 
world  almost  always  degenerates  from  the 
best  institutions  into  corruptions." — Commen- 
tary on  Hebrews,  chap.  vi. 


BEZA. 


Theodore  Beza  was  Calvin's  successor  in 
the  government  of  the  Church  in  Geneva. 
He  was  a  violent  opponent  of  the  errors  of 
Komanism,  and  in  his  denunciations  of  the 
Bishops  then  ruling  in  the  church  he  is  thought 
by  some  to  have  opposed  himself  to  the 
Episcopal  Office,  but  the  very  opposite  of  this 
can  be  shown.  He  says  himself:  "In  all 
which  I  have  written  against  the  Komish 
hierarchy,  I  have  not  even  alluded  to  the 
polity  of  the  Anglican  Church,  which  to  im- 
pugn, or  even  to  notice,  was  not  in  my 
thoughts."  And  again  :  "  If  there  be  any— 
which,  however,  you  will  not  easily  induce 
me  to  believe — who  reject  the  whole  order 
2* 


18  BEZA. 


of  Episcopacy,  God  forbid  that  any  man  in 
his  senses  should  assent  to  their  madness." 

Of  Confirmation,  he  says,  in  his  observa- 
tions on  Hebrews  vi. — "  The  Apostle  num- 
bers up  five  heads  of  catechism,  viz.,  the 
prof<  'ssion  of  amendment  of  life  {i.e.  repentance 
from  dead  works),  the  sum  of  faith  concerning 
God,  the  compendious  explication  of  doctrine 
that  was  wont  to  be  delivered  to  the  un- 
learned, especially  at  baptism,  and  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands  (when  they  met  together  to  bap- 
tize infants  or  adult  persons,  and  also  when 
they  came  together  to  impose  hands  upon  any:) 
the  head  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
of  the  future  judgment."  In  his  shorter 
notes  he  calls  them  "  the  heads  of  catechism, 
which  contain,  indeed,  the  chief  matters  of 
all  evangelical  doctrine,  but  were  delivered 
in  few  words,  and  summarily,  to  the  unlearned, 
viz.,  the  profession  of  repentance  and  faith 
toward  God.  The  articles  of  which  doctrine, 
as  they  are  called,  were  indeed  required  of 
thos  •  without  the  Church,  at  the  appointed 
days  of  baptism,  but  from  the  children  of 
all  the  faithful,  baptized  in  their  infancy, 
when  hands  were  laid  upon  them.  Among 
which  articles,  two  here  are  expressly  reck- 
oned up,  namely,  the  resurrection  of  the  Qesh 
and  eternal  judgment.'1 — Camfield  on  Confir- 
mation, Loudon,  1(582,  p.  25. 

It  is   not   all-surprising   that  with   these 


OSTERVALD.  19 


views  on  the  part  of  Calvin  and  Beza,  Con- 
firmation should  again  be  restored  to  its 
place  in  the  elinreh  of  their  founding.  This 
was  done,  and  an  office  provided  for  its  ad- 
ministration. In  the  French  Protestant 
(Calvinistic)  Church,  there  is  a  liturgy  of 
baptism  and  confirmation,  which,  revised,  is 
now  used  in  the  French  Protestant  Church 
in  Charleston,  S.  C.  On  page  2-i  may  be 
found  the  Manner  of  receiving  Catechumens, 
by  the  Confirmation  of  the  Baptismal  Yow, 
to  a  participation  of  the  Lord's  Supper. — 
Quint ard  on  Confirmation. 


FKEDEEIC    OSTEEYALD. 

Frederic  Ostervald  was  a  distinguished 
Swiss  Presbyterian  divine,  who  studied  the- 
ology at  Paris  and  Geneva,  and  was  afterwards 
appointed  pastor  of  Neufchatel,  his  native 
town, — a  position  which  he  adorned  by  his 
learning  and  zeal  during  a  long  life.  He  did 
much  to  revive  the  cause  of  religion  in 
Switzerland,  and,  in  addition  to  the  active 


20  OSTERVALD. 


duties  of  a  pastor  and  preacher,  found  leisure 
to  extend  his  reputation  as  a  man  of  learning 
and  piety  in  various  able  and  popular  works. 
These  works  attained  a  great  reputation 
among  the  French  protestants,  by  whom  he 
was  long  called  "h  Grand  Oslervald."  His 
writings  were  also  translated  into  English 
and  German,  and  "Ostervald's  Bible"  was 
long  well  known  and  much  prized  in  England. 
One  very  popular  work  of  his  is  called  u  A 
Treatise  concerning  the  Causes  of  the  Present 
Corruption  of  Christianity."  One  chapter  of 
this  work  is  on  Education,  in  which  the  author 
speaks  as  follows  concerning  Confirmation: 
"  Above  all,  it  is  requisite  that  church-men 
should  have  a  strict  inspection  over  schools 
and  families,  and  that  catechisings  be  more 
frequent  than  they  are.  Young  people  ought 
to  be  the  chief  objects  of  the  care  of  the 
pastors ;  no  part  of  their  office  is  more  useful, 
or  rewards  their  labors  with  better  success 
than  that.  Their  endeavors  to  mend  those 
who  are  come  to  age,  are  for  the  most  part  to 
little  purpose ;  but  what  they  do  for  children 
is  of  great  benefit.  If  therefore  they  have  a 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  if  they  wish  to 
see  a  change  in  the  face  of  the  church,  let 
them  apply  themselves  to  the  instructing  of 


OSTEBVALD.  21 


youth,  ami  make  it  their  business  to  forma 
new  generation.  Anion--  the  particular' es- 
tablishments which  might  be  made  for  the 
edification  of  the  church,  and  the  benefit  of 
.young  people,  there  is  one  which  would  be 
at  use,  and  which  seems  to  be  absolutely 
3sary.  And  that  is,  with  relation  to 
children  who  have  attained  the  age  of  dis- 
cretion, the  same  order  should  be  observed 
for  their  admission  to  the  sacraments  which 
was  practised  in  the  primitive  church  when 
catechumens  were  to  be  received  into  the 
Church  by  baptism.  This  admission  was 
very  solemn.  A  long  probation  went  before 
it.  The  catechumens  were  required  to  give 
an  account  of  their  faith,  and  they  bound 
themselves  by  solemn  promises  and  vows  to 
renounce  the  world  and  to  live  holy.  No 
such  thing  is  done  at  this  day,  at  the  admin- 
istration of  baptism,  because  young  children 
are  baptized;  but  what  is  not  done  at  the 
time  of  Baptism  should  be  done  when  they 
come  to  years  of  discretion.  And  truly,  if 
there  be  not  a  public  and  solemn  profession,  a 
promise  in  due  form  on  the  children's  part,  1  do 
not  see  how  ice  can  well  answer  what  is  objected 
by  some  against  infant  baptism,  which  yet  is 
a  good  and  laudable  practice.  When  children 
are  baptized  they  know  nothing  of  what  is 
done  to  them;  it  is  therefore  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  when  they  come  to  the  years  of 


22  OSTERVALD. 


reason,  they  should  ratify  and  confirm  the 
engagements  they  came  under  by  their  bap- 
tism, and  that  they  should  become  members 
of  the  Church,  out  of  knowledge  and  choice. 
Now,  the  fittest  time  for  such  a  confirmation 
and  promise,  is  when  they  are  admitted  to  a 
participation  of  the  Holy  Sacrament.  The 
order,  then,  which  I  mean,  is  this :  first,  that 
when  children  desire  to  be  admitted  to  the 
sacrament,  they  should  be  instructed  for 
some  weeks  before,  and  that  at  the  same 
time  they  should  be  informed  of  the  sacred- 
ness  and  importance  of  this  action,  and  of 
the  promise  they  are  to  make.  In  the  next 
place,  that  they  should  be  examined,  and 
that  they  should  publicly  render  an  account 
of  their  faith ;  this  examination  being  over, 
that  they  should  be  required  to  renew  and 
confirm,  in  a  public  and  solemn  manner, 
their  baptismal  vow  to  renounce  the  devil 
and  his  works,  the  world  and  the  pomp  of 
it,  the  flesh  and  its  lusts,  and  to  promise  that 
they  will  live  and  die  in  the  Christian  faith, 
and  that  then  they  should  be  admitted  to  the 
communion  by  benediction  and  prayers.  It 
will,  no  doubt,  seem  to  some  that  I  am  here 
proposing  a  novelty,  and  that,  too,  not  very 
necessary ;  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  all 
this  solemnity  ;  that  it  is  enough  to  examine 
and  exhort  children  in  private,  and  that  this 
confirmation  of  the  baptismal  vow  is  included 


OSTERVALD.  23 


and  supposed  in  the  admission  to  the  sacra- 
ment. To  this  I  say,  that  the  order  I  pro- 
will  he  thought  a  novelty  by  none  but 
such  as  Jo  not  know  ichat  was  anciently  prac- 
tised, and  who  call  innovation,  every  thing 
which  does  not  agree  with  the  custom  of 
their  country  or  their  church.  This  is  an 
imitation  of  the  ancient  and  the  apostolic  order, 
and  besides,  this  establishment  being  alto- 
gether suitable  to  the  nature  of  the  Christian 
religion,  as  I  have  just  now  made  it  appear, 
it  ought  not  to  be  rejected. 

As  for  what  is  said,  that  it  is  sufficient  if 
children  are  examined  and  admitted  in 
private ;  I  answer,  that  the  corruption  of  the 
age  we  live  in  is  so  great  that,  in  many 
churches,  this  admission,  and  the  examination 
which  precedes  it,  is  but  three  or  four  hours' 
work,  and  sometimes  less.  Pastors,  and 
those  to  whom  this  function  is  committed,  do 
often  go  about  it  very  negligently ;  they  con- 
tent themselves  with  some  questions  which, 
for  the  most  part,  relate  only  to  doctrine  and 
controversy ;  they  address  to  children,  general 
exhortations  to  piety,  but  they  take  no  care 
to  instruct  them  in  morals,  or  to  examine 
their  conduct ;  they  do  not  require  of  them 
an  express  ratification  of  the  baptismal  vow. 
I  know  there  are  pastors  who  do  their  duty, 
but  the  best  thing  would  be,  to  have  this  form 
of  examination  and  admission  regulated  in 


24  OSTERVALD — PISCATOR. 


such  a  manner  that  it  migfht  not  be  in  the 
breast  of  every  minister  to  do  in  this  matter 
as  he  thinks  fit.  And  that  all  this  might  be 
done  the  more  orderly ;  it  would  be  fitting, 
that,  according  to  the  practice  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  some  persons  should  be  appointed 
on  purpose  to  instruct  young  people  and 
catechumens.  What  care  soever  may  be  taken 
of  children,  and  whatever  may  be  done  for 
them  in  private  instructions,  it  is  certain  that 
public  and  solemn  exhortations  on  the  one  hand, 
and  promises  on  the  oilier,  would  make  a  much 
greater  impression  upon  them.  They  would 
then  look  upon  their  admission  with  respect, 
they  would  remember  it  all  their  lives,  and 
this  solemnity  would  prove  as  useful  and 
edifying  to  the  whole  church,  as  it  would  be 
to  the  young  people.  I  offer  this  with  the 
greater  confidence,  because  an  order  like  this 
has  been  settled  of  late  in  some  churches,  and 
is  there  observed  with  extraordinary  success." 
OstervakVs  Corruptions  d'c. —  Watson's  Theolo- 
gical Tracts — Cambridge  Edition,  17S5,  vol. 
vi.  pp.277,  278. 


PISCATOR. 

John  Piscator  was  a  German  Divine  of  great 
celebrity  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and 


riSCATOR. 


beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  lie  cm- 
I  the  doctrines  of  Calvin,  and  was  made 

Professor  of  Divinity  and  sacred  literature  in 
the  University  of  Herborn,  in  1584.  His 
learning  and  ability  was  held  in  such  estima- 
tion that  students  crowded  to  his  lectures 
from  France,  Hungary,  Poland,  and  the  nor- 
thern kingdoms  of  Europe.  He  died  in  1626, 
leaving  a  commentary  in  Latin  upon  all  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  beside 
many  voluminous,  practical  and  controversial 
treatises. 

On  the  text,  Hebrews,  vi.  1-2,  he  says  i1 
"  This  doctrine  (of  repentance  from  dead 
works,  and  faith  towards  God)  was  wont  to 
be  delivered  to  the  Catechumens  before  they 
were  baptized,  or  confirmed  in  the  christian 
faith  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  although  we 
think  this  imposition  of  hands  to  be  a  matter 
of  free  observance,  as  having,  indeed,  Apos- 
tolic example,  but  not  a  precept  from  Christ. 
At  first  sight  there  seems  to  be  six  heads  of 
doctrine  distinctly  reckoned  up ;  but  if  one 
shall  more  accurately  weigh  them,  they  may 
be  referred  to  four,  or  to  three ;  for  the  third 
and  fourth,  viz.,  Baptism  and  impositions  of 
hands  seem  not  here  to  -be  propounded  as  pe- 
culiar heads  of  doctrine,  but  put  among  the 
rest  to  declare  the  circumstances  of  time  wherein 


26  RIVET. 


these  fundamentals  were  wont  to  be  propounded 
unto  beginners,  namely,  at  that  time,  when  the 
adults  were  admitted  unto  baptism,  and  also 
when  those  who  were  baptized,  in  their  infancy, 
and  afterwards  instructed  in  their  childhood, 
were  ivont  by  the  church  to  be  confirmed  in  the 
christian  faith  by  the  imposition  of  hands." — 
Cam  field,  &c,  p.  26. 


EIVET. 

Andrew  Eivet  was  a  French  Calvinistic 
Divine,  of  great  piety,  learning,  and  emi- 
nence. In  1620  he  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Divinity  at  Leyden,  where  he  remained  till 
his  death  in  1647.  He  left  several  theologi- 
cal works,  as  well  as  an  entire  commentary 
on  the  Scriptures.  Of  Confirmation  he  thus 
speaks : 

"The  imposition  of  hands  joined  with  the 
doctrine  of  baptism,  Heb.  vi.  2,  refers  to  that 
solemn  benediction  of  baptized  persons 
which  the  ancients  so  often  speak  of,  and 
which  was  in  use  in  the  Primitive  Church, 
which  was,  that  when  children,  who  were 
baptized  in  infancy,  could  give  an  account  of 
their  faith  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Pastor, 


RIVET.  27 


he  then  laid  hifl  hands  upon  them  and  blessed 
them,  commending  them  to  God,  and  there- 
in- cnn tinning  them  in  the  profession  of  the 
christian  religion."  This  custom  having 
been  corrupted  among  the  Papists,  he  says : 
"  They  had  restored  to  its  lawful  use  by  cate- 
chising, instruction,  and  benediction  of  chil- 
dren in  prayer  before  they  were  admitted  to 
the  Lord's  Supper." — Rivet,  Cathol.  Orth. 
Tract  iii.  29,  quoted  in  Bingham,  vol.  8,  p.  173. 

He  says  again,  in  another  place,  in  addition 
to  much  the  same  language  as  the  above  : 

"  If  they  of  the  Church  of  Rome  would  be 
content  with  this  prayer  and  commendation 
of  adult  persons  to  God,  after  a  solemn  exam- 
ination, we  should  willingly  acquiesce  there- 
in ;  if  they  would  demand  no  more  than  that 
rite  which  Calvin  wished  to  have  restored,  and 
which,  for  the  substance  of  zV,  is  noio  reli- 
giously observed  in  our  churches" — Synops. 
Pur.  Theo.  Disp.  47.  p.  13,  quoted  by  Bingham, 
vol.  8,  p.  173. 


IIERZOG. 

Under  the  article  "  Confirmation,"  in  Her- 
zog's  Protestant   Theological  Encyclopedia, 


28  HERZOG. 


is  the  following :  "  In  the  Apostolic  Church 
the  laying  on  of  hands  was  connected  with 
baptism,  as  the  means  of  communicating  the 

gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost Baptism  was 

incomplete  without  the  laying  on  of  hands, 
and  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  wherefore, 
Protestant  polemics  should  never  have  allowed 
itself  to  accept  the  declaration,  that  these 
passages  (Acts  xix.  6 ;  viii.  12-19.  Heb. 
vi.  1-2,  &c.)  did  not  refer  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
but  only  to  the  special  gifts  of  the  Spirit  in 
Apostolic  times."  In  speaking  of  the  views 
of  the  Reformers  in  reference  to  this  rite 
the  article  further  says :  "  Confirmation  was 
rejected  as  a  sacrament  by  the  Protestants 
from  the  beginning,  for  the  two-fold  reason, 
that  it  lacked  the  sign  of  a  sacrament,  and 
detracted  from  baptism.  It  was  practised  in 
Pomerania,  Geneva,  &c,  though  everywhere 
divested  of  a  Sacramental  character.  The  in- 
tercessory laying  on  of  hands  takes  the  place 
of  the  anointing  with  oil,  and  the  act  itself 
is  regarded  as  a  confession  of  faith.  A 
difference  in  the  procedure  between  the  Lu- 
therans and  Reformed  scarcely  existed 

The  ceremony  did  not,  however,  extend  itself 
further  toward  the  end  of  the  17th  century 
but  even  went  out  of  use  where  it  existed, 
with  but  a  few  exceptions.  Its  continuance 
was  preserved  by  pietism.  After  several  at- 
tempts (as  by  Henisius,  in  Frankfort  on  the 


HERZOG.  29 

Oder,)  Spencer  re-established  it  in  Frankfort 
on  the  Maine,  in  166().  Its  re-introduction 
into  the  Protestant  Church  was  now  so  rapid 
that  it  seemed  as  if  a  universal  desire  existed 
for  it.  Several  Churches  introduced  it,  the 
Government  approved,  and  then  law  made  it 
binding ;  this  was  in  general  the  way  it  spread. 
Still  it  required  the  whole  of  the  past  and 
part  of  the  present  century  to  make  its  re-in- 
troduction general ;  and  it  was  not  done  every- 
where without  ojDposition." 
3* 


ENGLISH  PRESBYTERIANS  AND 
NON-CONFORMISTS, 


"ASSEMBLY'S  ANNOTATIONS." 

This  is  the  title  of  a  Commentary  on  the 
Scriptures,  of  high  origin  and  authority 
among  the  Presbyterians.  It  was  written  by 
a  Committee  appointed  by  the  Presbyterian 
Parliament  in  1648-9,  composed  chiefly  of 
those  who  were  Members  of  the  Westmins- 
ter Assembly,  whence  it  has  always  been 
known  as  the  "Assembly's  Annotations.'1 
The  names  of  this  Committee  are  given  by 
Neal  in  his  history  of  the  Puritans,  vol.  3., 
p.  386,  and  we  find  among  them  those  of 
high  distinction  for  learning  and  ability. 

On  Hebrews  vi.  2,  is  the  following  com- 
ment : 

["  Laying,  &c.,]  which  is  usually  called  con- 
firmation, which  stood  first  in  examining 
(30) 


assembly's  annotations.  31 


who  had  been  baptized,  what  progress 
they  had  made  in  the  doctrine  of  Christi- 
anity. Secondly,  in  praying  for  them,  that 
God  would  continue  them  in  the  faith,  and 
give  them  more  grace,  strengthening  them 
by  his  Holy  Spirit.  Now  when  the  chief  Pas- 
tor or  Pastors  of  the  church  prayed  for  them, 
they  laid  their  hands  upon  them,  whence  the 
>lical  constitution  was  called  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  So  Augustine,  and  so  most  of 
the  fathers,  with  one  consent.  Or  understand 
thereby  a  ceremony  used  in  the  ordination 
of  ministers." 

On  Acts  xix.  5,  the  Annotations  say : 
"  Not  that  Paul  did  re-baptize  them.  These 
words  relate  not  unto  the  words  of  Paul,  but 
unto  their  hearing  of  John's  doctrine:  and 
therefore  Paul  is  not  said  to  have  baptized 
them,  but  to  have  laid  his  hands  upon  them : 
that  is,  a  posture  and  action  of  confirmation, 
not  initiation.  Baptism  is  a  new  birth  of  the 
whole  man :  as  we  can  be  born  but  once  in 
the  flesh,  so  we  can  be  born  but  once  in  the 
spirit." 

[v.  6.  Laid  his  hands  upon  them,]  chap, 
vi.  6,  and  viii,  17,  he  laid  his  hands  upon 
them  for  confirmation ;  we  read  not  that  he 
re-baptized  them. 


DR.    GOUGE. 

Dr.  William  Gouge  was  a  celebrated  Pu- 
ritan Minister,  a  member  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  who  took  an  active  part  in  the 
various  proceedings  instituted,  by  the  then 
ruling  powers,  for  the  reformation  of  the 
Church.  He  was  one  of  the  Committee  ap- 
pointed by  Parliament  to  prepare  the  Com- 
mentary on  the  Scriptures,  known  as  the 
"  Assembly's  Annotations,"  to  which  refer- 
ence is  made  above.  His  principal  work  is 
a  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, where,  under  the  first  and  second 
verses  of  chapter  sixth,  he  says : 

"  Ordinary  cases  wherein  imposition  of 
hands  was  used,  were — 1.  Blessing  children 
by  our  Saviour.  2.  Setting  men  apart  to 
the  public  function  of  ministers  of  the 
Word.  3.  Deputing  men  to  some  special 
work.  4.  Confirming  such  as  had  been  in- 
structed in  the  principles  of  religion.  This 
last  particular  (meaning  confirmation)  he 
says  "  is  not  expressly  set  down  in  Scripture, 
but  gathered  out  of  it  by  the  Ancient  Ortho- 
dox Fathers,  and  with  a  joint  consent  af- 
terwards by  most  divines,  not  Papists  only, 
but  Protestants  also." — Camjltld,  p.  o5. 


OALAMY.  33 


CALAMY. 

Edmund  Oalamy  was  a  distinguished  Eng- 
lish Presbyterian  Minister,  who  wrote  and 
preached  muck  in  favor  of  the  Presbyterian 
form  of  Church  Government,  and  had  a 
share  in  drawing  up  the  celebrated  vindica- 
tion of  that  form  published  in  London  in 
1650,  and  also  the  Jus  Divinum  in  1654. 
He  was  engaged  with  Iloadly,  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  in  a  controversy  on  Non- 
conformity. He  published  in  1704,  a  "Prac- 
tical Discourse  concerning  Yows,  with  a 
special  reference  to  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,"  from  which  the  following  is  an  ex- 
tract : 

"  And  here  it  may  be  inquired,  whether  or 
no  it  be  fitting,  requisite,  or  allowable,  that 
imposition  of  hands,  joined  with  serious 
prayers  to  God  for  the  strengthening  and 
confirming  grace  of  his  Spirit,  for  those  who 
come  to  own  their  baptismal  vovjs  openly  in 
the  face  of  a  Christian  congregation  ;  and  an 
authoritative  benediction  on  the  part  of  the 
minister,  as  God's  officer,  should  be  used  on 
this  occasion  ?"  "  Whereto  I  answer,  that 
there   is  a  general  unanimity  among  those 


34  CALAMY. 


who  have  been  most  diligent  in  searching  into 
ecclesiastical  antiquity,  in  reporting  this  as 
the  current  practice  of  the  primitive  Church ; 
and  that  not  only  while  miraculous  gifts  con- 
tinued, but  afterward.  That  it  is  convenient 
and  warrantable  by  Scripture  as  well  as  an- 
tiquity, was  the  opinion  of  our  first  reform- 
ers here  in  England,  and  the  most  celebrated 
divines  we  have  had  amongst  us  ever  since. 
This  was  also  the  judgment  of  the  learned 
Grotius,  who  was  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest 
men  these  parts  of  the  world  ever  produced. 
Nay,  the  same  was  the  sentiment  of  the 
famous  Calvin,  who  founded  confirmation  by 
imposition  of  hands  on  Heb.  vi.  2,  where  we 
find  laying  on  of  hands  in  the  rank  of  funda- 
mentals, in  the  fourth  place,  after  repentance, 
faith,  and  baptism,  and  before  the  resurrec- 
tion and  eternal  judgment.  On  which 
passage  of  Scripture,  Calvin  hath  this  note : 
1  TJiat  this  one  place  sufficiently  manifests  that 
the  ceremony  of  laying  on  of  hands  on  those  who 
passed  out  of  the  infant  into  the  adult  state  of  be- 
lievers, upon  their  open  professing  the  Christian 
faith,  had  its  rise  from  the  Apostles ;'  and  there- 
fore he  declares  that, '  though  the  Bomanists  had 
superstitiously  abused  it,  yet  he  was  altogether 
against  laying  it  aside,  but  for  keeping  the  insti- 
tution pure.1  The  same  was  Beza's  judgment. 
Herein  also  Gerrard  agrees  with  divers  of 
the   most    famous   Lutheran   divines.     And 


CALAMY.  35 


finally,  that  eminent  servant  of  God,  Mr. 
Riohard  Baxter  (than  whom  this  nation 
afforded  one  more  earnestly  intent  on 
the  promoting  practical  godliness  or  true 
Christian  discipline)  hath  wrote  a  treatise  on 
purpose  for  the  revival  of  this  antiquated 
praetice,  which  is  entitled,  '  Confirmation  and 
Restoration  the  Necessary  Means  of  Reforma- 
tion and  Reconciliation ;'  whereto  I  refer  those 
that  would  desire  full  satisfaction  in  this 
matter."  He  continues:  "However,  I  shall 
take  this  opportunity  of  warning  all  to  take 
heed  of  imagining  that  every  thing  is  to  be 
quite  laid  aside  that  hath  been  abused  to  super- 
stition. That's  a  very  fond  conceit,  and  some 
that  have  unwarily  imbibed  it,  little  observed 
whither  it  would  lead  if  pursued  with  rigor. 
Suppose  a  man  superstitiously  abuses  the 
Scripture,  (which  I  am  satisfied  is  no  impos- 
sible thing,)  am  I  therefore  obliged  to  lay  it 
aside  as  useless'/  What  an  unhappy  case 
were  I  in,  if  another  man's  superstition 
might  rob  me  of  that  which  would  be  so 
useful  to  me!  Any  one  almost  would  be 
ready  in  such  a  case  to  say,  what  an  argu- 
ment is  another's  abuse  against  my  right  use 
of  that  invaluable  book  which  God  hath  left 
as  a  legacy  to  His  Church  ?  In  like  manner, 
how  weak  an  argument  is  it  for  persons  to 
say  the  Papists  have  abused  Confirmation,  or 
they  have  abused  absolution,  to  superstition, 


36  MILTON. 


therefore  we  must  lay  it  aside!  What,  I 
pray,  hinders  us  from  using  that  rightly 
which  they  have  abused  ?  We  need  not  throw 
away  the  wheat  that  we  may  get  rid  of  the 
chaff,  for  the  fan  will  suffice  to  separate  and 
scatter  that,  and  leave  the  wheat  remaining." 


MILTON. 

The  celebrated  Puritan,  John  Milton, 
Secretary  to  Cromwell,  says  in  his  work  on 
Christian  Doctrine:  u  Confirmation  or  impo- 
sition of  hands,  was,  it  is  true,  administered 
by  Christ ;  not,  however,  as  a  sacrament,  but 
as  a  form  of  blessing,  according  to  a  common 
Jewish  custom,  derived,  probably  from  patri- 
archal times,  when  fathers  were  accustomed 
to  lay  their  hands  on  their  children  in  bless- 
ing them,  and  magistrates  on  those  whom 
they  appointed  their  successors,  as  Moses  on 
Joshua.  Hence  the  Apostles  usually  laid 
their  hands  on  such  as  were  baptized  or  chosen 
to  any  ecclesiastical  office:  usually,  I  say,  not 
always,  for,  though  we  read  of  imposition  of 
hands  on  the  seven  deacons,  we  do  not  find 
that  this  ceremony  was  practised  towards 
Matthias  when   he  was  numbered  with  the 


IIANMKR.  37 


in  Apostles .*  In  the  case  of  the  baptized, 
imposition  of  hands  conferred,  not  indeed 
saving  grace,  but  miraculous  powers  and  the 
extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  Hence, 
although  the  Church  rejects  this  ceremony  as 
ramentf  she  retains  it  with  great  propri- 
ety and  advantage  as  a  symbol  of  blessing,  Heb. 
vi.  2.  The  doctrine  of  baptisms,  and  of  laying 
on  of  hands." — Milton  on  Christian  Doctrine,  p. 
449.    Edit.  Cambridge,  1825. 


HANMER. 

Jonathan  IIaxmer  who  was  a  distin- 
guished non-conformist  divine  of  the  middle 
of  the  17th  century  wrote  a  work  in  favor  of 
Confirmation  entitled  "An  Exercitation  upon 
Confirmation — the  Ancient  Way  of  complet- 
ing Church  Membership,"  which  was  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1658.  The  preface  to 
this  work  was  written  by  Richard  Baxter, 
who  says  that  Mr.  Hanmer  wrote  "  very  learn- 
edly and  piously,  endeavoring  the  restoration 

*  There  is  no  proof  that  it  was  not  done,  and  more- 
over, if  this  makes  against  anything,  it  is  against  the 
practice  of  laying  on  hands  in  ordination  ! 

4 


38  BAXTER. 


of  this  practice."  The  occasion  of  this  pro- 
duction is  of  great  interest,  being  the  agree- 
ment of  the  associated  non-conformist  minis- 
ters, in  the  county  in  which  Mr.  Baxter  was 
settled,  to  adopt  some  ceremony  for  the 
"solemn  transition  of  infants  into  church 
membership."  Baxter  says  in  the  preface 
to  his  own  work  on  Confirmation, — 

"When  the  book  of  Mr.  Hanmer  was 
read,  the  design  was  generally  approved  (as 
far  as  I  can  learn),  and  very  acceptable  to 
men  of  all  parties.  But  many  of  them  called 
to  me  to  try  whether  some  more  Scripture 
proofs  might  not  be  brought  for  it,  and  at 
the  desire  of  some  Reverend  Godly  brethren 
I  hastily  drew  up  this  which  is  here  offered 
you."       • 


BAXTER. 

The  celebrated  non-conformist  minister, 
Richard  Baxter,  who  so  earnestly  opposed 
the  Church  of  England,  came  in  time  to  re- 
gard the  rite  of  Confirmation  with  great 
favor,  and  to  confess  that  its  want  was  "  the 
greatest   corruption  of  the  Church  of  any 


BAXTER.  39 


outward  thing  he  remembered."  With  this 
conviction  he  set  about  the  work  referred  to 
above.  It  is  a  very  long  and  elaborate 
production,  and  discusses  the  subject  in 
every  possible  view,  till  it  is  thoroughly  ex- 
hausted. In  a  little  work  like  this,  we  can  of 
course  give  but  brief  extracts.  It  is  entitled, 
"  Confirmation  and  [Restoration  the  necessary 
means  of  Reformation  and  Reconciliation." 
We  quote  from  the  London  folio  edition  of 
Baxter's  Works,  1707,  4th  volume,  p.  254. 
The  author  states,  that  the  chief  object  he 
had  in  writing  on  Confirmation,  was  to  sat- 
isfy his  own  earnest  desires  after  the  refor- 
mation and  reconciliation  of  the  churches ;  to 
which,  he  adds,  "  I  do  very  confidently  ap- 
prehend this  excellent  work,  (the  Restoring 
of  Confirmation)  to  have  a  singular  ten- 
dency." 

Under  the  head  of  the  13th  Proposition, 
entitled  "Ministerial  Imposition  of  Hands  in 
Confirmation,"  etc.,  Mr.  Baxter  says : — "  For 
the  first  of  the  proposition  I  think  it  may 
suffice — 1.  That  imposition  of  hands  was 
used  in  Scripture  times;  and  so  used,  as 
may  invite  us  to  imitation,  but  not  deter  us 
from  it  at  all.     2.  And  that  it  hath  been  since 


40  BAXTER. 


of  ordinary  use  in  the  Universal  Church,  in 
this  very  case,  so  that  no  other  original  can 
be  found  but  Apostolical ;  yea,  we  have  ex- 
ceeding probable  evidence,  that  the  use  of  it  was 
never  interrupted  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles 
down  to  the  Reformation.  3.  Nor  is  it  laid 
aside  in  many  of  the  Eeformed  Churches. 
So  that  you  will  find  that  as  it  is  easy  to 
prove  lawful,  so  it  is  more  likely  to  be  a  Di- 
vine Institution,  necessary,  necessitate  proscepti, 
than  to  be  unlawful." — p.  268. 

Under  this  same  Proposition,  we  find  the 
following  in  reference  to  the  ceremony  of  lay- 
ing on  hands, — "  But  let  us  inquire  whether 
the  Scriptures  lay  not  some  kind  of  obliga- 
tion on  us  to  use  this  ceremony  in  Con- 
firmation, to  which  end  let  these  several 
things  be  considered.  1.  We  find  in  Scrip- 
ture a  blessing  of  church  members  with  laying 
on  of  hands.  2.  We  find  in  Scrijrture 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  promised  in  a  special 
manner  to  believers,  over  and  above  that  mea- 
sure of  the  Spirit  which  caused  them  to  believe. 
3.  We  find  that  Prayer  with  Laying  on  of 
Hands,  was  the  outward  means  to  be  used  by 
Christ's  ministers  for  the  procuring  of  this  bless- 
ing. 4.  We  find  that  this  was  a  fixed  ordi- 
nance to  the  church,  and  not  a  temporary  thing." 
lb.,  p.  271.  Under  this  4th  Proposition  con- 
cerning the  continuance  of  Confirmation  in 
the  Church,  Baxter  says : 


BAXTER.  41 


"When  I  have  proved  it  once  ap- 
pointed, it  lieth  on  the  contrary-minded  to 
prove  it  changed  or  ceased.  If  I  show 
them  an  obligation  once  laid,  they  must 
prove  it  taken  oil'.  Their  only  argument  is, 
that  the  persons  and  occasions  were  only 
extraordinary,  and  are  cea,sed,  and  therefore 
so  is  the  sign  and  means.  To  which  I  an- 
swer— 1.  By  denying  the  antecedent ;  both  as 
to  persons  and  occasions.  They  were  not 
only  extraordinary.  2.  By  denying  the  con- 
sequence as  it  is  inferred  from  the  persons. 
For  extraordinary  persons  were  our  patterns 
for  ordinary  durable  work.  But  I  prove  the  ne- 
gative. The  use  and  ends  of  the  ancient  Im- 
position of  hands  do  still  continue :  There- 
fore, we  are  to  judge  that  the  sign  and 
means  is  not  to  cease.  The  baptized  believer 
may  still  want  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  boldness  of  access  to  God,  and  the  shed- 
ding abroad  of  fuller  love  in  the  heart.  Now 
to  have  a  messenger  of  Christ  that  hath  re- 
ceived a  binding  and  loosing  power,  in  the 
name  of  Christ  to  encourage  us  in  our  pro- 
fession, and  to  put  up  solemn  prayers  for  us, 
and  as  it  were  to  take  us  by  the  hand  and 
place  us  in  the  higher  form,  and  make  parti- 
cular application  of  the  promise  to  us,  and 
bless  us  in  the  name  of  Christ,  by  virtue  of 
their  ministerial  office,  this  must  needs 
tend  much  to  confirm,  and  comfort,  and  en- 


42  BAXTER. 


courage  the  weak.  The  Scripture  signifieth 
to  us,  that  imposition  of  hands  was  of  stand- 
ing use  in  the  Church,  and  therefore  not  to 
cease  with  miracles.  In  Heb.  vi.  2,  we  find 
it  named  among  the  parts  of  the  foundation, 

Laying  on  of  Hands The  last  thing 

I  have  to  do  is  to  argue  from  the  practice  of 
the  Church.  If  the  Universal  Church  of 
Christ  have  used  Confirmation  by  Prayer 
and  Laying  on  of  Hands,  as  a  practice  re- 
ceived from  the  Apostles, — and  no  other  be- 
ginning of  it  can  be  found ; — then  have  we 
no  reason  to  think  the  ceremony  to  be 
ceased.  But  the  antecedent  is  true,  as  I  come 
now  briefly  to  prove,  supposing  what  Mr. 
Hanmer  hath  said.  It  is  commonly  known 
that  the  ancientest  Canons  of  the  Church 
do  speak  of  this  as  the  unquestioned  practice  and 
duty  of  the  Church;  so  that  to  recite  Ca- 
nons were  loss  of  time  in  so  known  a 
case."— lb.  272. 

Mr.  Baxter  then  gives  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers  to  the  antiquity  of  Confirmation, 
quoting  from  Ignatius,  Tertullian,  Cyprian, 
&c.  Much  more  is  said  by  this  distinguished 
and  learned  Non-conformist  on  this  subject 
— these  quotations,  however,  are  sufficient 
to  show  of  what  sacred  origin  and  utility  he 
considered  this  rite. 


WALDENSES   AND   BOHEMIANS 


WALDENSES. 

The  chief  purpose  of  this  work  being  to 
collect  the  testimony  of  Non-Episcopal  au- 
thorities, that  of  the  early  Waldenses  would 
of  course  not  be  included,  if  this  purpose  was 
strictly  adhered  to.  But  there  are  such  vague 
and  erroneous  notions  prevalent  concerning 
these  early  Eeformers  in  the  Church,  that  we 
shall  give  their  testimony  on  the  subject  of 
Confirmation,  as  if  they  had  laid  aside  this  and 
other  primitive  and  apostolic  usages  of  the 
Church.  As  for  Episcopacy,  it  is  capable  of 
the  clearest  proof,  that  for  a  long  while  they 
carefully  maintained  this  form  of  the  minis- 
try."    When  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  who 


*  In  keppine;  with  our  purpose  of  giving  the  testi- 
mony of  Non-Episcopalians,  we  subjoin  here  the  testi- 
mony of  Dr.  J.  P.  Wilson,  former  Pastor  of  the  First 
■  rian  Church  in  Philadelphia,  in  reference  to  the 
Episcopacy  of  the  Waldenses.  It  will  be  found  in 
his  "  Primitive  Government  of  Christian  Churches," 

(43) 


44  WALDENSES. 


had  been  driven  by  persecution  into  the 
woods  and  mountains,  came  to  fear  the  loss 
of  a  lawful  ministry  by  the  death  of  their 

published  in  Philadelphia,  in  1833.  On  page  214, 
where  he  is  treating  of  the  "  Waldenses  of  Bohemia 
and  Moravia,"  he  says — "The  latter  (referring  to 
John  Huss)  adopted  the  doctrines  of  Wickliffe,  and 
was  burned  in  1415,  and  is  accounted  the  founder  of 
the  Society  of  Unitas  Fratrum.  .  .  .  These  have  been 
also  called  Waldenses,  from  their  union  with  those 
of  Austria.  These  being  Episcopal,  there  urns  still  neither 
place  for,  nor  the  existence  of,  lay  presbyters."  Again,  on 
page  215,  he  says — "Being  cut  off  from  ordination, 
both  from  the  Roman  and  Greek  Churches,  in  1467, 
the  Brethren  obtained  Episcopal  ordination  for  certain 
men  chosen  to  be  seniors,  superintendents,  or  bish- 
ops, from  Stephen,  who  was  the  last  Bishop  of  the 
Waldenses  (Vallenses)  and  was  burned  at  Vienna  in 
1468.  This  excellent  evangelical,  and  persecuted  people, 
had  more  respect  for  sound  doctrines  than  scrupu- 
lous correctness  in  matters  of  church  government, 
Their  prejudices  have  always  been  for  the  Episcopal 
government,  even  whilst  groaning  under  the  oppres- 
sions of  diocesan  Episcopacy.  From  the  commence- 
ment of  their  new  episcopate,  which  was  about  fifty 
years  before  the  Reformation,  they  had  eight  kinds 
of  officers — elders,  almoners,  inspectors  of  buildings, 
ministers,  acoluths  (candidates  for  the  ministry,  who 
read  homilies)  deacons  who  preach  ;  presbyters  or  priests, 
who  administer  ordinances  ;  and  bishops,  whom  they 
denominate  seniors." 

This  "prejudice"  on  the  part  of  this  "  excellent  and 
evangelical  people"  for  the  "Episcopal  govern- 
ment" is  not  very  remarkable,  since  they  bad  never 
known  or  heard  of  any  other  since  tbe  days  of 
the  Apostles.  But  the  author  of  this  work,  while 
striving  to  do  the  best  he  can  with  stubborn  facts  of 
the  early  history  of  the  Church,  is  witbal  so  candid 
in  his  admissions  on  this  point,  that  we  can  not  re- 


WALDENSES.  45 


faithful  Pastors  that  had  fled  thither  with 
them,  they  held  a  Council  in  1467,  composed 
of  seventy  ministers  out  of  Bohemia  and 
Moravia,  who  appointed  three  of  their  num- 
ber by  lot,  whom  they  sent  to  these  II V- 
denses  on  the  confines  of  Moravia  and  Aus- 
tria, whither  they  too  were  fled  for  conscience' 
sake.  There  they  found  Stephanus  the  Wal- 
densian  Bishop,  by  whom  they  were  conse- 
crated, and  sent  home  with  Episcopal  power. 
The  full  account  of  this  may  be  seen  in  Du- 

frain  from  giving  the  following  note  of  his  to  page 
215,  in  which  he  rebukes  Perrin,  a  Waldensian  of 
later  date,  for  the  want  of  the  same  spirit. 

"Perrin  says,  'At  the  time  when  the  doctrine  of 
John  Huss  was  received  and  entertained  there,  the 
ministers,  elders  and  Protestants  of  Bohemia  say, 
&c."' 

"And  again,  in  speaking  of  the  Martyrdom  of  the 
Austrian  Waldensian  Bishop,  Stephen,  he  calls  him 
1  an  elderly  man.''  In  page  19  he  says,  'There  was  a 
certain  man  called  Bartholomew,  who  founded  and 
governed  the  churches  in  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Dalma- 
tia,  and  Hungary,  and  ordained  ministers,  &c.' 
Perrin  mtttf  have  known  that  these  elders  and  clergymen 
were  bishops;  but  writing  a  century  after  the  Refor- 
mation, he  wishes  to  cast  a  veil  over  the  government  of 
•rrrhes.  What  confidence  can  be  placed  in  such 
a  writer?" 

We  commend  the  statements  of  this  candid  and 
learned  Presbyterian  divine  to  those  who  are  perpe- 
tually referring  to  the  Waldmuet  for  the  origin  and 
model  of  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church  Govern- 
ment. 


46  WALDENSES. 


relVs  Government  of  Reformed  Churches,  pp.  11 
and  12.— Ed.  1662. 

As  to  Confirmation,  the  Waldenses,  in  the 
year  1504,  exhibited  their  Confession  to  La- 
dislaus,  King  of  Hungary,  in  which  they 
thus  speak  of  this  rite — 

"  We  do  profess,  with  a  faith  taken  out  of  the 
divine  Scriptures,  that  in  the  times  of  the  Apos- 
tles this  was  observed :  whoever  being  come  to 
the  ripeness  of  years,  had  not  received  the  pro- 
mised gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  received  them 
afterward  by  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands 
for  the  Confirmation  of  faith.  The  same  we 
think  also  of  infants.  Whosoever  being  bap- 
tized, hath  come  over  to  the  true  faith, 
which  he  resolves  to  imitate,  indeed,  amidst 
adversities  and  contumelies,  in  that  manner, 
that  a  new  birth  and  life  of  graces,  may  seem 
discovered  in  his  spirit  or  temper.  Such  an 
one  ought  to  be  brought  and  set  before  the 
Bishop  or  Priest,  when  being  questioned  of 
the  truth  of  Faith,  and  the  divine  commands, 
and  also  his  own  good-will,  settled  inten- 
tions, and  works  of  truth  ;  if  he  shall  witness, 
by  his  confession,  that  all  these  things  are 
so,  he  is  to  be  confirmed  in  the  hope  of  truth 
already  attained,  and  furthermore  to  be 
holpen  by  the  Churches'  prayers,  that  an  in- 
crease of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  ac- 
crue unto  him  for  the  establishment  and  war- 


WALDENSRB.  47 


fare  of  faith.  Lastly,  by  imposition  of  hands 
I  '  ijlriii  the  promises  of  God  and  the  truth. 
in  the  power  of  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  his  Word,  and  of  tin1  Holy  Spirit,  let  him 
be  joined  to  the  Churches'  Communion." 

Again  in  their  Apology  to  the  Marquess 
of  Brandenburgh,  in  1552,  speaking  of  chil- 
dren that  have  been  baptized,  they  add  : 

"  AY  hen  they  shall  have  come  to  years  of 
discretion,  and  now  understand  the  account  of 
their  faith,  and  begin  to  love  Christ  in  good 
earnest,  we  bring  them  to  the  profession  of 
these  things,  even  whatsoever  they  have 
attained  to  by  the  help  of  their  parents  or 
Godfathers,  or  by  the  ministry  of  the  Church, 
that  they  may  themselves,  of  their  own  accord, 
and  most  freely,  own  and  profess,  all  these 
things  before  the  whole  Church,  to  their  own 
salvation,  in  the  celebration  of  the  rite  of 
imposition  of  hands  ;  which  being  done,  they 
are  Confirmed.  And  there  is  forthwith 
given  them  full  power  and  right  to  commu- 
nicate of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  with 
the  faithful."—  Camfield,  p.  30. 


48  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN. 


BOHEMIAN  BKETHEEN. 

The  Bohemian  Brethren  were  a  body 
of  Keformers  who  sprung  up  in  Bohemia,  in 
the  year  1467.  They  were  a  remnant  of  the 
Sclavonic  Church,  and  disciples  of  Wickliffe, 
Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague.  They  treated 
the  Pope  as  Anti- Christ,  and  held  the  Scrip- 
tures to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
and  have  sometimes  gone  under  the  same 
name  with  the  Waldenses.  In  1504,  they 
were  accused  of  heresy  by  the  Eomanists  to 
king  Ladislaus,  who  published  an  edict  against 
them,  forbidding  them  to  hold  any  meetings. 
When  Luther  declared  himself  against  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  Bohemian  Brethren  en- 
deavored to  join  his  party,  but  at  first  were 
not  allowed,  till  1523,  when  a  deputation  was 
sent  to  him,  giving  a  full  account  of  their 
faith.  They  were  then  acknowledged  by 
Luther,  as  a  society  of  Christians,  "whose 
doctrines  came  nearest  to  the  purity  of  the 
Gospel."  They  published  another  Confession 
in  1535,  renouncing  anabaptism,  which  they 
practised  at  first,  upon  which  a  union  was 


BOHEMIAN'    BRETHREN.  49 


concluded  with  the  Lutherans,  and  afterward 
with  the  Zuinglians,  whose  opinions  from 
thenceforth  they  continued  to  follow.  Their 
last  Bishop  was  Comenius,  who  has  left  an 
account  of  the  manner  of  administering  the 
rite  of  Confirmation  among  these  early  Pro- 
testants, which  is  so  conformable  to  the 
present  custom  of  the  Church,  that  we  give 
it  entire.     He  says — 

"The  young  ones,  having  been  taught 
the  heads  of  religion,  at  home  by  their  parents 
and  sureties,  or  at  school  by  their  masters, 
are  publicly  delivered  to  the  care  of  their 
pastors  in  the  church,  before  the  receiving  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  most  usually  at  the  time 
of  pastoral  visitation,  after  this  manner: 

1.  The  words  of  Christ,  Mat.  xi.  28,  are 
read,  with  a  short  aplication  of  them. 

2.  The  youth  of  both  sexes,  appointed  there- 
unto, and  pre-examined  by  their  pastors,  are 
placed  in  order  in  the  middle  of  the  Church. 

3.  They  are  then  asked  whether  they  will 
renew  the  covenant  they  entered  into  with 
God  at  baptism. 

4.  This  being  consented  to  by  them,  the 
heads  of  that  covenant  are  explained  accord- 
ing to  the  form  prescribed  by  the  Apostle  to 
Titus,  chap  ii.  11,  12,  13.  And  they  are  com- 
manded openly,  before  the  Church,  to  renounce 
the  world,  the  devil,  and  the  flesh,  &c. 

5 


50  BOHEMIAN   BRETHREN. 


5.  Next,  a  profession  of  the  faith  is  re- 
quired of  them,  so  that  they  all  repeat  aloud 
the  Apostles'  Creed. 

6.  Then,  on  their  bended  knees,  saying 
after  the  minister,  they  pray  unto  God  to 
forgive  the  sins  of  their  youth,  and  strengthen 
them  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  unto  all  the  good 
purposes  of  his  will ;  which  also  the  whole 
assembly  doth,  praying  for  them :  after  which 
prayers, — 

7.  There  is  declared  to  these  young  disci- 
ples, and  the  whole  church,  absolution,  and 
the  right  of  the  sons  of  God  in  participating 
in  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.  And  lastly  there 
is  added  the  Apostolic  rite  of  imposition  of 
hands,  with  the  invocation  of  the  name  of 
God  upon  them,  to  strengthen  (or  confirm) 
the  hope  of  his  heavenly  grace." 


AMERICAN    PRESBYTERIANS    AND 
CONGREGATIONALISTS, 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

One  of  the  most  important  acknowledg- 
ments of  the  primitive  character  and  utility 
of  the  rite  of  Confirmation,  i3  in  the  report 
of  a  committee,  appointed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  in  the  year  1811,  "to  draught 
a  plan  for  disciplining  baptized  children." 
This  committee  consisted  of  the  Rev.  Drs. 
James  Richards,  Samuel  Miller,  and  John  B. 
Romeyn,  three  of  the  most  learned  Presby- 
terian divines  of  that  day.  They  submitted 
their  report  in  the  following  year,  which  the 
Assembly  ordered  to  be  published,  "  recom- 
mending it  to  the  serious  consideration  of  all 
the  presbyteries  and  ministers,  that  in  due  time 
a  decision  may  be  had  on  the  important  sub- 
jects discussed  in  the  report." 

The  report  is  a  learned  and  elaborate  pro- 
duction, making  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  over 

(51) 


52  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY. 


fifty  pages,  and  refers  to  the  writings  of  the 
fathers,  and  the  practice  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  with  a  spirit  of  respect  and  deference 
that  has  become  very  rare  in  these  latter  days. 
On  pages  13, 14,  and  15,  it  speaks  thus,  of  the 
disciplining  of  baptized  children,  and  the  rite 
of  Confirmation. 

"  The  Primitive  Church  considered  herself 
as  the  common  mother  of  all  baptized  children, 
and  exercised  a  corresponding  care  over 
them,  that  they  might  be  trained  up  as  a 
generation  to  serve  the  Lord.  She  did  not, 
indeed,  in  so  many  words,  in  her  public  con- 
fessions, adopted  and  enlarged  from  time  to 
time,  to  meet  prevailing  errors,  avow  the 
principle;  nor  was  it  necessary,  for  the 
principle  was  recognized  in  the  requirement 
of  a  promise  or  vow  from  the  baptized  person, 
that  he  would  live  according  to  the  rules  of 
Christianity.  As  this  vow  could  not  be 
made  by  infants,  it  was  required  from  those 
who  "presented  them.  These  persons,  whether 
parents  or  others,  besides  receiving  themselves, 
as  members  of  the  church,  the  seal  of  baptism, 
became  responsible,  not  only  for  the  instruc- 
tion, but  for  the  admonition  and  rebuke,  if 
necessary,  of  the  children  baptized.  Children 
were  presented  to  baptism,  not  so  much  by 
those  in  whose  hands  they  were  brought 
(though  by  them  too,  if  they  were  good  and 


GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  53 


faithful   men),  as  by  the  whole  Bociety  of 

saints.  The  whole  Church  was  their  mother.* 
Thai   tli is  principle  was  in  fact  avowed  by 

the  Primitive  Church  in  her  practice,  though 
not  in  words  in  her  confession,  a  spears  from 
the  design  of  the  rite  of  Confirmation  ;  the  attention 

which  was  paid  to  the  instruction  of  baptized 
cJUldren,  and  the  discipline  actually  inflicted 
upon  them  in  case  of  improper  conduct. 
First,  it  appears  that  a  rite  called  Confirmation 
was  administered  by  the  imposition  of  the  hand 
cf  tin  minister,  or  Bishop,  or  elder,  together  with 
prayer  on  baptized  children,  at  a  certain  age. 
Both  Ccdvin  in  his  Institutes,  and  Owen  in  his 
Commentary  on  the  Hebreivs,  acknowledge  that 
this  practice  existed  at  a  very  early  period  in  the 
Church.  The  latter  thus  states  its  design. 
'  When  they  (that  is  the  children  of  believers, 
baptized  in  their  infancy)  were  established 
in  the  knowledge  of  these  necessary  truths, 
(of  which  he  makes  mention  before),  and 
had  resolved  on  personal  obedience  to  the 
Gospel,  they  were  offered  unto  the  fellowship 
of  the  faithful ;  and  here,  on  giving  the  same 
account  of  their  faith  and  repentance  which 
others  had  done  before  they  were  baptized, 
they  were  admitted  into  the  communion  of 
the  Church,  the  elders  thereof  laying  their 
hands  on  them  in  token  of  their  acceptation,  and 

*  This  is  the  institution  of  Sponsors,  against  which 
so  many  persons  now  object. 


54  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY. 


praying  for  their  Confirmation  in  the  faith? 
This  rite,  which  was  originally  confined  to 
those  who  were  baptized  in  their  infancy, 
was  afterward  administered  to  adults,  imme- 
diately upon  their  baptism.  In  process  of 
time,  when  the  Church  became  grossly  cor- 
rupted in  her  practice  as  well  as  doctrine, 
it  was  administered  to  infants  immediately 
after  baptism,  that  they  might  receive  the 
Lord's  Supper.  This  historical  fact,  while 
it  exhibits  a  most  deplorable  superstition, 
strikingly  illustrates  the  design  of  Con- 
firmation, as  already  stated  from  Dr.  Owen. 
'By  this  rite  it  came  to  pass,7  saith  the 
judicious  Hooker,  '  that  children  in  the 
expectation  thereof,  were  seasoned  with  the 
principles  of  true  religion,  before  malice  and 
corrupt  examples  depraved  their  minds,  a 
good  foundation  was  laid  betimes  for  direc- 
tion of  the  course  of  their  whole  lives ;  the 
seed  of  the  Church  of  God  was  preserved 
sincere  and  sound ;  the  prelates  and  fathers 
of  God's  family,  to  whom  the  care  of  their 
souls  belonged,  saw  by  trial  and  examination 
of  them,  a  part  of  their  own  heavy  burden 
discharged,  reaped  comfort  by  beholding  the 
first  beginnings  of  true  godliness  in  tender 
3^ears,  glorified  him  whose  praise  they  found 
in  the  mouth  of  infants,  and  neglected  not  so 
fit  an  opportunity  of  giving  every  one  fatherly 
encouragement  and  exhortation;  whereunto 
imposition  of  hands  and  prayer  being  added, 


GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  55 


[these  italics  are  in  the  report]  our  warrant 
for  the  great  good  eifect  thereof,  is  the  same 
which  patriarchs,  prophets,  priests,  apostles, 
fathers  and  men  of  God  have  had  for  such  their 
particular  invocations  and  benedictions,  as  no 
man,  I  suppose,  professing  truth  and  religion, 
will  easily  think  to  have  been  without  fruit.' 
This  rite  of  Confirmation,  thus  administered 
to  baptized  children  when  arrived  to  competent 
years  and  previously  instructed  and prepared  for 
it,  with  the  express  view  of  their  admission  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  shows  clearly  that  the  primitive 
Church,  in  her  purest  days,  exercised  the  author- 
ity of  a  mother  over  her  baptized  children. 

This  Report  may  be  seen  in  the  library 
of  the  "Presbyterian  Historical  Society,"  in 
Philadelphia,  to  the  gentlemanly  librarian 
of  which  I  am  indebted  for  the  use  of  a 
copy  of  it.  The  value  of  this  Report  to  us 
is,  that  men  of  such  high  standing  among 
the  Presbyterians  maintain  it  to  be  an  his- 
torical fact,  that  the  rite  of  Confirmation, 
or  laying  on  of  hands  with  prayer,  upon 
persons  previously  baptized,  was  the  prac- 
tice of  "the  Primitive  Church  in  her 
purest  DAYS."  If  so,  then  we  may  well  ask, 
Why  not  so  now  ? 

With  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the  authors 
of  the  Report,  and  of  Dr.  Owen,  that  Con- 


56  CONGREGATIONAL. 


firmation  was  administered  by  the  ministers 
or  elders,  whom  they  also  style  bishops,  it 
may  be  sufficient  to  adduce  the  following 
from  the  "judicious  Hooker,"  which  occurs 
in  the  same  section  that  contains  the  passage 
on  which  they  bestow  so  much  commenda- 
tion. 

11  The  cause  of  severing  Confirmation  from 
Baptism  (for  most  commonly  they  went  to- 
gether) was  sometimes  in  the  minister,  which 
being  of  inferior  degree,  might  baptize  but 
not  confirm,  as  in  their  case  it  came  to  pass 
whom  Peter  and  John  did  confirm,  whereas 
Philip  had  before  baptized  them."  Quoting 
from  Cyprian  and  Jerome,  the  "judicious 
Hooker"  observes :  "  By  this  it  appeareth 
that  when  the  ministers  of  baptism  were 
p>ersons  of  inferior  degree,  the  bishops  did  after 
confirm  whom  such  had  before  baptized." 
Eccl.  Pol,  book  v.  sect.  66. 


CONGREGATIONAL. 

Although  we  have  no  positive  admissions 
from  the  early  Puritans  concerning  Con- 
firmation, we  still  have  their  general  en- 
dorsement of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give, 


CONGREGATIONAL.  57 


to  show  that  they  were  not  opposed  to  that 
Church,  as  many  of  their  descendants  now 
unfortunately  are. 

In  the  "Seven  Articles,"  sent  by  the 
Church  of  Leyden  to  the  Council  of  Eng- 
land, in  1617,  and  signed  by  the  pastor, 
Robinson,  and  the  elder,  Brewster,  this  is 
most  plainly  stated.  The  first  of  these  arti- 
cles is  as  follows: — 

"  To  the  Confession  of  Faith,  published 
in  the  name  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
to  every  article  thereof  we  do,  with  the  Re- 
formed Churches  where  we  live,  and  also 
elsewhere,  assent  wholly."  Article  2d  says  : 
"  As  we  do  acknowledge  the  doctrine  of  faith 
there  taught,  so  do  we  the  fruits  and  effects 
of  the  same  doctrine  to  the  begetting  of  sav- 
ing faith  in  thousands  in  the  land,  (Confor- 
mists and  re-Conformists,)  as  they  are  called, 
with  whom  also  as  with  our  brethren  we  do  de- 
sire to  keep  Spiritual  Communion  in  peace,  and 
will  practise  in  our  parts  all  lawful  things." 
These  articles  may  all  be  seen  in  Steele's 
"Life  and  Times  of  Elder  Brewster,"  p.  316. 

Robinson  says  again,  in  his  treatise  on 
the  "  Lawfulness  of  hearing  the  Ministers  of 
the  Church  of  England."  "For  myself  I 
believe  with  my  heart  before  God,  and  pro- 
fess with  my  tongue,  and  have  before  the 
world,  that  I  have  one  and  the  same  faith, 


58  DR.   COLMAN. 


hope,  spirit,  baptism,  and  Lord  which  I  had 
in  the  church  of  England,  and  none  other." 
Ibid.  p.  319. 

This  is  worth  remembering  by  some  of 
the  descendants  of  these  who  are  now  so 
ready  to  charge  this  Church  with  all  manner 
of  unscriptural  doctrines. 

Of  Confirmation,  Cotton  Mather  plainly  ap- 
proved in  his  Ratio  Disciplines,  p.  104. 


DK.    COLMAN. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Colman,  a  Congrega- 
tional minister  of  much  learning  and  dis- 
tinction, was  the  first  pastor  of  the  Brattle 
Street  congregation,  in  Boston.  He  died 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  leav- 
ing numerous  publications. 

Among  his  published  sermons  there  is  one 
on  the  "  Ten  Yirgins,"  the  following  extract, 
from  which  is  published  in  the  Episcopal 
Watchman  of  1829,  p.  52. 

"The  confession  of  the  name  of  Christ  is, 
after  all,  very  lame,  and  will  be  so,  till  the 
discipline  which  Christ  ordained  be  restored, 
and  the  rite  of  Confirmation  be  recovered  to  its 
full  use  and  solemnity.  The  reason  why  the 
one  has  dwindled  into  a  useless  name  is  be- 


DR.   DOLMAN.  59 


i  the  other  is  lost.  There  is  a  discipline 
which  our  Saviour  has  instituted  which  should 

His  Church  forever  a  sacred  and  invio- 

order.  The  honor  of  religion  and  the 
safety  of  souls  call  for  it.  The  first  ami 
grand  detect  in  order  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
abuse  or  total  want  of  a  regular  recognition 
of   the  baptismal  vow,  by  those  that  have 

baptized  in  infancy,  as  they  grow  up. 
If  this  were  strictly  attended  to,  so  would 
the  exercise  of  a  severe  watch,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, continue,  and  the  administration  of 
just  censures  would  follow  as  occasion  re- 
quired. But  a  false  step  being  made  here, 
it  runs  into  great  confusion  and  disorder. 
Your  external  profession  or  confession  of 
the  faith  is  very  imperfect  without  a  public, 
serious  declaration  of  it  in  the  face  of  the 
congregation,  at  the  demand  of  your  pastors 
when  you  come  to  years  of  discretion.  It 
is  not  enough  that  you  have  been  baptized, 
and  had  a  Christian  education,  and  have 
given  your  attendance  on  the  public  worship 
of  Christ  from  your  infancy,  but  you  are  to 
say  that  you  stand  to  your  Baptism — take 
that  vow  xqwn  you,  and  confirm  and  ratify  all 
that  was  done  by  your  parents  in  the  solemn 
duty  of  devoting  you  to  God.  This  is  the 
most  explicit  act  of  confessing  Christ  that  is 
done  by  a  Christian  ordinarily  in  his  whole 
life." — (See  Chapman's  Sermons.) 


BAPTISTS 


In  this  body  of  Protestant  Christians,  the 
rite  of  Confirmation,  or  "  laying  on  of  hands," 
as  they  generally  called  it,  has  had  a  very 
interesting  history.  In  one  or  more  of  its 
various  divisions  it  is  still  practised.  Such 
is  the  case  with  the  "  Seventh -day  Baptists," 
and  with  the  "  Six-principle  Baptists."  In 
the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  former  of  these, 
adopted  at  a  General  Conference  in  1833,  the 
following  is  the  XVth  Section : — 

"  Concerning  imposition  of  hands,  we  be- 
lieve it  was  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  and 
the  primitive  Church,  to  lay  hands  upon  the 
newly  baptized  believers,  and  it  should  be 
perpetuated  in  the  Church.  We  therefore 
practise  it.  Acts  viii.  17  ;  xix.  6  ;  Hebrews 
vi.  2. — Rupp's  History  of  Religious  Denomi- 
nations, p.  81. 
(60) 


six-principle  baptists.  61 


SIX-PRINCIPLE    BAPTISTS. 

This  division  of  Baptists  is  spoken  of  by 
their  historian  as  of  "  high  antiquity,"  and 
having  "long  maintained  their  respectabi- 
lity." Their  views  in  reference  to  Confirma- 
tion should  be  noticed  in  this  place.  Their 
distinguishing  principles,  from  which  they 
take  their  name,  are  founded  on  Hebrews  vi. 
1st  and  2d  verses.  Among  them,  of  course,  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  laying  on  of  hands.  Dr. 
Belcher,  in  his  history  of  the  "  Religious  De- 
nominations of  the  United  States,"  thus 
speaks  of  them : 

"In  this  country,  however,  the  chief 
point  on  which  they  have  insisted  has  been 
that  of  laying  hands  on  the  newly  bap- 
tized. They  refused  to  hold  fellowship  with 
Churches  who  did  not  practise  this,  as  they 
believe,  Christian  ordinance."  "We  have 
intimated  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Six- 
principle  Baptists ;  and  the  reader  who  has 
examined  English  Baptist  History,  must 
have  observed  that  they  were  long  ago  nu- 
merous and  useful.  There  seems  to  have 
been  more  of  union  between  them  and  other 
Baptists,  in  their  early  history,  than  after- 
6 


62  SIX-PRINCIPLE   BAPTISTS. 


wards.  Unhappily,  a  dispute  arose  in  the 
general  body  on  the  use  of  psalmody,  against 
which  the  Six-principle  Baptists  were  usu- 
ally found,  and  in  this  dispute  one  or  more 
of  the  most  respectable  London  Churches 
originated,  though  it  is  highly  probable  that 
their  present  members  know  not  that  either 
the  Six-principles,  or  opposition  to  singing, 
had  any  thing  to  do  with  their  commence- 
ment." (!) 

"The  same  remark  may  apply  to  this 
country.  One  of  these  principles — that  of 
laying  on  of  hands — was  believed,  and  acted 
on  for  a  time  by  Koger  Williams'  Church,  in 
Rhode  Island ;  but  these  peculiarities  among 
them  soon  died  away,"  \not  for  one  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  years — see  page  6S.~\  "  Not 
so,  however,  at  Newport,  in  that  State ;  for, 
in  1656,  twenty-five  members  left  the  first 
Church  in  that  town,  and  formed  themselves 
into  a  separate  body,  on  account  of  the  old 
Church  using  psalmody ;  because  it  imposed 
undue  restraints  of  prophesying,  held  the 
doctrine  of  particular  redemption,  and  re- 
garded the  laying  on  of  hands  with  indiffe- 
rence. This  Church,  however,  has  long  ago 
changed  its  views  of  these  things,  except 
indeed  the  laying  on  of  hands,  which  is  still 
practised.  The  extent  of  this  branch  of  the 
Baptist  body  was  never  large,  and  according 
to  the  latest  statistics  they  have  but  seventeen 


ENGLISH    AND   WELSB    BAPTISTS.         63 


ohurohes,  fifteen  ministers,  and  two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  members." — 
Belcher* 8  Religions  Dencmiination8J  p.  246. 


ENGLISH  AND  WELSH  BAPTISTS. 

This  attachment  to  Confirmation  is  by  no 
means  peculiar,  however,  to  these  smaller 
divisions  of  this  denomination.  It  was  once 
held  in  great  esteem  throughout  the  whole 
body. 

It  was  recognized  as  an  "  Ordinance  of 
Christ"  in  their  confessions,  and  practised 
in  many  of  their  Churches  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years  after  their  first  formation. 
It  seems  to  have  grown  into  disuse  by  slow 
degrees,  and  yet  was  earnestly  advocated 
and  contended  for  by  many  of  their  most 
learned  and  influential  men.  This  was  the 
case  both  in  England  and  America. 

The  faithful  perseverance  with  which  many 
congregations  and  associations  adhered  to 
this  Apostolic  rite,  which  they  called  one  of 
the  doctrines  of  Christ,  referring  to  Hebrews 


64         ENGLISH  AND   WELSH  BAPTISTS. 


vi.,  1  and  2,  is  a  very  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive chapter  in  their  history.  It  shows  us 
how  remorseless  is  the  innovating  hand  of 
man  in  matters  of  religion,  and  that  when 
he  has  once  begun  to  improve  upon  the  di- 
vine plan,  there  will  be  no  end  short  of  entire 
destruction.  For  the  following  statements,  in 
reference  to  the  English  and  Welsh  Baptists, 
we  are  indebted  to  Crosby's  History  of  the 
English  Baptists,  a  standard  work  by  an  ar- 
dent admirer  of  their  principles.  We  copy 
from  the  London  edition,  of  1740. 

The  Baptists  in  Wales  were  equally  at- 
tached to  this  rite  with  their  brethen  in  En- 
gland. Among  the  several  biographical  no- 
tices that  this  history  contains,  is  one  of 
Mr.  Yavasor  Powell,  who  was  a  celebrated 
preacher  in  Wales,  a  man  of  university  edu- 
cation, and  belonging  to  a  distinguished 
family.  He  died  in  1670,  but  left  a  Confes- 
sion of  Faith,  which,  according  to  Crosby, 
contained  not  only  his  own  opinions,  °  but 
the  faith  and  discipline  of  the  Churches  in 
Wales,"  of  which  he  says :  "  They  were  also 
for  ordination  of  Elders,  singing  of  Psalms 
and  Hymns  in  public  worship,  laying  on  of 


ENGLISH    AND    WKLSH    HA1TISTS.  65 


on  the  newly  baptized,  and  anointing 
tin-  sick  witli  oil,  according  to  the  Apostolic 
direction." — Crosby,  vol.  i.  p.  378. 

Among  these  biographical  notices  is  one 
of  Mr.  Benjamin  Reach,  a  very  prominent 
preacher  in  England,  and  a  man  of  much 
influence  and  ability.  He  exercised  his  mi- 
nistry among  the  Baptists,  between  the  years 
L688  and  1704.  He  was  an  earnest  advo- 
cate for  laying  on  of  hands,  and  left  among 
his  works  an  elaborate  treatise  on  this  sub- 
ject, entitled  "  Darkness  Vanquished,  being 
an  answer  to  Danvers,  on  laying  on  of  hands.''1 
In  his  biography  of  this  man,  Crosby  gives 
the  following  account  of  the  views  of  the 
Baptists  of  that  time  concerning  this  rite. 

"This  truly  famous  servant  of  Christ  did 
not  only  stand  up  in  defense  of  believers' 
baptism,  in  opposition  to  that  of  infants ; 
but  also  enaged  in  many  controversies  that 
were  urged  among  the  Baptists  themselves. 
The  first  of  this  kind  was  about  the  practice 
of  laying  on  of  hands  upon  baptized  per- 
sons, and  performing  it  with  prayer  at  their 
admission  in  the  Church.  Those  Baptists 
that  held  the  principles  of  the  Kemonstrants 
gem  rally  practised  it,  but  those  who  are 
called  Calvinists  were  divided  upon  it.  Some 
6* 


66  ENGLISH  AND  WELSH   BAPTISTS. 


of  their  Churches  did  not  practise  it  at  all. 
Some  made  it  indifferent,  and  some  admitted 
members  either  with  or  without  it.  Others 
made  it  a  boundary  of  their  communion,  and 
would  receive  none  into  their  societies  but  by 
this  method.  And  of  this  last  opinion  was 
Mr.  Keach's  Church,  and  they  have  been  te- 
nacious of  this  opinion  even  to  this  day. 
These  things  occasioned  several  treatises  to 
be  wrote  on  each  side,  and  it  had  been  con- 
troverted among  the  Baptists  ever  since 
their  first  forming  themselves  into  distinct 
Churches.  But  as  some  came  from  the  Es- 
tablished Church,  who  use  it  under  the  name 
of  Confirmation,  and  others  from  the  Pres- 
byterians and  Independents  who  used  it  not, 
so  they  brought  their  different  sentiments 
in  this  point  along  with  them.  In  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  which  was  published  by 
the  Baptists  in  the  year  1643,  there  is  no 
mention  made  of  it,  nor  in  any  other  agreed 
to  afterwards  by  those  of  the  Calvinisttc  per- 
suasion* But  in  the  declaration  of  faith 
put  forth  by  the  English  Baptists,  who  were 
fugitives  in  Holland  in  the  year  1611,  they 
declare  that  the  elders  and  deacons  are  to 
be  chosen  by  election  and  approbation  of 
that  church  or  congregation  whereof    they 

*  This,  of  course,  has  no  reference  to  the  Philadel- 
phia  Confession. 


ENGLISH   AND  WELSH   BAPTISTS.  67 


are  members,  with  fasting,  prayer,  and  lay- 
ing on  of  bands.  And  in  the  declaration 
put  forth  by  the  Arminian  Baptists,  about 
the  year  1600,  it  is  acknowledged  to  he  the 
duty  of  all  baptized  believers,  and  necessary 
to  a  right  constituted  church.  Their  words 
are  these:  '  That  it  is  the  duty  of  all  suck, 
who  are  believers  baptized,  to  draw  nigh 
unto  God  in  submission  to  that  principle  of 
Christ's  doctrine,  to  wit,  prayer  and  laying 
on  of  hands,  that  they  may  receive  the  pro- 
mise of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  they  may 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  and  live  in 
all  things  answerably  to  their  professed  in- 
tentions and  desires,  even  to  the  honor  of 
him  who  hath  called  them  out  of  darkness 
into  his  marvellous  light.  That  it  is  the 
duty  of  such,  who  are  constituted  as  afore- 
said, to  continue  steadfastly  in  Christ's  and 
the  Apostles'  doctrine,  and  assembling  to- 
gether in  fellowship,  in  breaking  bread,  and 
prayers.'  The  chief  advocates  for  this  prac- 
tice, among  the  Baptists,  were  Mr.  Samuel 
Fisher,  Mr.  William  Eider,  Mr.  Tomlimson, 
Mr.  Griffith,  Mr.  Keach,  and  Mr.  Grantham  ; 
several  Baptists  on  the  other  side  united  in 
publishing  a  treatise  against  it,  and  especially 
against  separating  about  it,  entitled,  A 
Search  for  Schism,  but  concealed  their 
names.  And  Mr.  Danvers,  who  had  wrote 
so  well  against  infant  baptism,  set  himself 


AMERICAN   BAPTISTS. 


very  zealously  to  the  opposing  of  this  prac- 
tice, and  published  a  treatise  on  it  in  the 
year  1674.  This,  with  Mr.  Reach's  answer, 
takes  in  the  sum  of  the  controversy  on  both 
sides,  and  has  so  far  put  an  end  to  it  that 
scarcely  any  thing  has  been  published  upon 
it  since." — Crosby,  vol.  iv.  p.  291-292. 

However,  this  did  not  "put  an  end"  to 
the  practice,  as  Crosby  has  just  above  in- 
formed us  that  Mr.  Keach's  Church  was 
"tenacious"  of  it  till  his  own  day,  which 
was  more  than  sixty  years  after.  It  was  also 
brought  to  this  country,  as  will  be  presently 
seen,  adopted  in  their  first  American  Confes- 
sion, and  practised  for  more  than  a  hundred 
and  sixty  years,  in  the  first  and  parent  con- 
gregation, as  well  as  a  long  time  in  many 
others. 


AMEKICAN    BAPTISTS. 

In  the  earliest  Baptist  Congregations  es- 
tablished in  this  country,  we  find  the  ordi- 
nance of  "laying  on  of  hands"  prevailing 
from  the  beginning,  and  also,  that  the  first 
"  Association"  formed  set  forth  in  their  Con- 


AMERICAN    BAPTIST3.  09 


fession,  their  belief  that  this  rite  was  an 
"  ordinance  of  Christ  to  abide  in  the  Church." 
Our  authority  for  the  following  statements  is 
the  "  History  of  the  Baptists  in  America," 
by  David  Benedict,  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Pawtucket,  K.  L,  Ed.  1813.  The 
first  Baptist  Church  in  this  country  was  in 
Providence,  K.  I.,  and  was  organized  by 
Roger  Williams  in  1639.  In  this  Congrega- 
tion, "laying  on  of  hands"  seems  to  have 
been  practised  from  the  beginning;  and 
though,  according  to  our  author,  it  was  some- 
times "  held  in  a  lax  manner,"  it  was  not  laid 
aside  by  any  order  or  action  of  the  Church 
till  as  late  as  the  year  1808.  The  fourth 
Pastor  of  this  Congregation,  in  succession 
from  Roger  Williams,  was  Thomas  Olney, 
who  came  to  Providence  in  1654.  Benedict 
says  of  him  :  "  He  was  the  chief  who  made 
a  division  about  laying  on  of  hands.  He 
and  others  withdrew,  and  formed  a  sepa- 
rate church ;  but  it  continued  only  a  short 
time." — Yol.  i.  p.  478.  We  are  not  informed 
whether  Mr.  Olney's  separation  was  because 
of  the  "lax  manner"  in  which  laying  on  of 
hands  was  held,  or  whether  it  was  because 


70  AMERICAN   BAPTISTS. 


he  refused  to  recognize  it  at  all.  The  former, 
however,  is  the  unavoidable  inference.  For 
we  soon  find  the  controversy  was  again  re- 
vived by  another  Pastor,  who  was  equally 
zealous  for  the  traditions  of  their  fathers. 
A  Mr.  Samuel  Windsor  was  Pastor  of  this 
Congregation,  from  1759  to  1770.  When, 
asking  for  an  assistant,  the  Church  appointed 
the  Eev.  James  Manning,  President  of  the 
Ehode  Island  College,  with  whom  Mr.  Wind- 
sor refused  to  become  associated  on  account 
of  his  lax  views  concerning  laying  on  of 
hands, — though  it  is  said  of  him, — "  He  him- 
self received  it,  and  administered  it  to  those 
who  desired  it."  Still  Mr.  Windsor  and  his 
adherents  withdrew,  and  organized  a  new 
Congregation,  having  presented  the  following 
declaration  to  the  Church-meeting,  signed  by 
himself  and  a  number  of  members : 

"  Brethren  and  Sisters. — We  must,  in  con- 
science, withdraw  ourselves  from  all  those 
who  do  not  hold  strictly  to  the  six  princi- 
ples of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  as  laid  down 
in  Hebrews  vi.  1,  2."— lb.  480. 

The  subsequent  history  of  this  practice  is 
thus  recorded  by  Benedict : 


AMERICAN    BAPTISTS.  71 


"  The  doctrine  of  laying  on  of  hands 
at  the  beginning  of  this  church,  held  in 
a  lax  manner;  but  it  became  afterward  a 
term  of  communion,  and  continued  so  till  after 
Dr.  Manning  came  among  them:  he  pre- 
vailed with,  the  Church  to  admit  to  occasional 
communion,  those  brethren  who  were  not 
convinced  of  the  duty  of  coming  under 
hands;  but  very  few  such  were  received  as 
members  till  after  his  death.  But  on  Au- 
gust 4, 1791,  the  Church  had  a  full  meeting, 
when  this  point  was  distinctly  considered, 
and  a  clear  vote  was  gained  to  admit  mem- 
bers who  did  not  hold  that  doctrine.  But 
notwithstanding  this  vote,  the  laying  on  of 
hands,  not  as  an  ordinance,  but  as  a  form  of 
ving  new  members,  was  generally  prac- 
tised until  1808,  when  the  pastor  of  the 
Church  who  had  been  educated  in  the  belief 
of  this  ceremony,  as  his  father  was  an  advo- 
cate for  it,  and  who  had  hitherto  practised  it, 
not  however  without  troublesome  scruples 
of  its  propriety,  found  his  mind  brought  to  a 
stand  on  the  subject,  and  after  duly  weighing 
the  matter,  informed  the  Church  that  he 
could  no  longer  continue  the  practice,  and 
unless  they  could  excuse  him,  he  must  ask  a 
dismission  from  his  pastoral  care. 

After  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject,  the 
Church,  with  but  one  dissenting  voice,  voted 


72  AMERICAN   BAPTISTS. 


not  to  dismiss  him ;  and  laying  on  of  hands, 
of  course,  fell  into  neglect. 

Some  few  worthy  members  were  desirous 
of  retaining  both  their  pastor  and  this  an- 
cient ceremony ;  but  not  being  disposed  to 
act  against  the  voice  of  the  Church,  no  divi- 
sion, and  but  little  controversy,  ensued." — 
Benedict,  vol.  i.  p.  487. 

This  is  a  very  significant  history,  and  it 
shows  what  a  firm  hold  this  doctrine  had  in 
the  minds  of  the  followers  and  disciples  of 
Roger  Williams,  in  the  first  and  oldest 
Baptist  Congregation  in  this  country.  It 
took  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years  to  root 
it  completely  out ! 

There  are  many  scraps  of  history  remain- 
ing concerning  this  rite  in  connection  with 
other  congregations  and  pastors.  Mr.  Comer 
was  pastor  of  the  Newport  congregation  in 
1726,  of  whom  Benedict  says: 

"  His  ministry  in  this  place  was  short  but 
successful ;  by  his  means  singing  in  public 
was  introduced,  which  had  not  before  been 
introduced.  The  laying  on  of  hands  was 
held  in  a  lax  manner,  and  his  attempts  to 
urge  it  as  an  indispensable  duty,  though  not 
as  a  term  of  communion,  gave  offense  to  two 
leading  members  in  the  Church,  and  was  the 


AMERICAN   BAPTISTS.  73 


means  of  his  being  dismissed  from  his  of- 
fice  Mr.  Comer  bid  fair  to  be  one  of 

the  most  eminent  ministers  of  his  day ;  his 
character  was  unspotted  and  his  talents  re- 
Bpectable  and  popular.  He  had  conceived  the 
design  of  writing  the  history  of  the  Ameri- 
can Baptists;  and  for  the  purpose  of  for- 
warding it,  traveled  as  far  as  Philadelphia — 
opened  a  correspondence  with  persons  in  the 
different  Colonies,  and  also  in  England  and 
Ireland.  He  was  curious  in  making  minutes 
of  remarkable  events  of  every  kind : — he 
also  collected  many  useful  facts  for  his  in- 
tended history.  These  minutes,  in  the  few 
years  of  his  ministry,  swelled  to  two  vols,  folio, 
of  about  sixty  pages  each — and  have  been 
of  singular  advantage  to  Edwards,  Backus, 
and  the  writer  of  this  sketch  of  this  prom- 
ising man,  whom  a  mysterious  providence 
saw  fit  to  cut  down,  almost  in  the  beginning 
of  his  course." — lb.  497. 

The  opinion  of  such  a  man  would  be 
thought  to  be  of  great  value.  But  in  his 
attempt  to  restore  an  ancient  rite  of  the 
Church,  he  was  overruled  by  "two  leading 
members  of  his  congregation,  and  dismissed 
from  his  office" ! 

Professor  Cutting,  of  the  University  of 
Rochester,  in  his  "  Historical  Vindications," 
7 


74  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS. 


calls  him  the  "  young  and  saintly  Comer," 
but  overlooks  Benedict's  statement  concern- 
ing the  cause  of  his  separation  from  the 
Newport  congregation,  and  says,  "he  re- 
tired, in  part  because  some  could  not  bear  his 
preaching  the  doctrines  of  grace"  ! 

The  "  lax  manner"  in  which  the  doctrine 
of  laying  on  of  hands  was  held  in  this 
Church,  led  to  the  forming  of  a  second  con- 
gregation more  than  sixty  years  before  Mr. 
Comer's  effort  to  restore  it  to  its  proper  ob- 
servance. In  1656,  "twenty-one  persons 
broke  off  from  the  first  Church,  and  formed 
themselves  into  a  separate  body."  They  give 
four  objections  against  the  old  Church,  the 
last  of  which  is,  "  her  holding  the  laying  on 
of  hands  as  a  matter  of  indifference."  Be- 
nedict adds :  "  This  last  article  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  principal  cause  of  separation." 
Yol.  i.  p.  500. 

This  adherence  to  the  laying  on  of  hands 
was  not  confined  to  an  occasional  clergyman 
or  congregation.  In  1729,  an  Association 
or  General  Convention  was  held  in  Rhode 
Island,  in  which  thirteen  Churches  were  re- 
presented, with  ten  ministers,  two  hundred 


AMKKH'AN     BAPTISTS.  75 


and  fifty  communicants,  and  one  thousand 
auditors.  Benedict  adds:  "  The  Churches 
(r,  re  all  strenuous  for  the  laying  on  of 
hands." 

This  Association  embraced  all  the  Churches 
but  three-  east  of  New  Jersey,  and  they  were 
the  only  ones  that  did  not  practise  laying  on 
of  hands.  These  were  the  first  Churches  in 
Newport,  Swansea,  and  Boston.  "It  is  now, 
(1813)  eighty-four  years  since  this  great 
Association,  as  it  was  then  esteemed,  was 
held ;  very  considerable  changes  have  taken 
place  in  most  of  the  Churches,  of  which  it 
was  then  composed ;  but  the  same  body,  on 
the  same  plan  of  doctrine  and  discipline, 
still  exists  under  the  name  of  the  Ehode 
Island  Yearly  Meeting.  This  meeting, 
on  account  of  its  making  the  laying  on  of 
hands  a  term  of  Communion,  and  its  inclina- 
tion to  the  Arminian  system  of  doctrine, 
has  no  connection  with  any  of  the  neigh- 
boring associations.  It  contains  thirteen 
Churches,  twelve  ministers,  and  over  eleven 
hundred  members.  Eight  of  the  Churches 
are  in  this  State,  the  others  in  Massachusetts 
and  New  York." — Benedict,  vol.  i.  p.  508. 

In  the  same  author's  account  of  the  "  Eed 
Stone  Association  in  Western  Pennsylva- 
nia," he  says:  "The  doctrine  of  the  laying 
on  of  hands  became   a   subject  of  dispute 


76  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS. 


among  the  Red  Stone  Churches  a  number  of 
years  ago.  Most  of  them  had,  from  the  be- 
ginning, practised  the  rite,  but  some  were 
for  making  it  a  term  of  Communion  ;  it  was, 
however,  finally  determined  that  all  should 
be  left  to  act  according  to  their  respective 
opinions  on  the  subject." — lb.,  p.  601. 

In  the  Middle  States  the  laying  on  of 
hands  seems  to  have  been  held  in  the  same 
"  lax  manner,"  till  the  subject  was  revived 
by  the  Churches  of  Welsh  descent.  In  the 
year  1703,  a  number  of  Baptists  separated 
from  the  Church  of  Pennepack,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  removed  to  the  Welsh  Tract,  in 
New  Castle  county,  "  on  account  of  a  differ- 
ence about  laying  on  of  hands;  for  the 
Church  at  Pennepack  had  grown  indifferent 
about  the  rite,  but  they  deemed  it  a  pre- 
requisite to  the  Communion  of  Saints."  In 
1606,  a  Conference  met  to  arrange  the  diffi- 
culty, who  agreed  that  "  a  member  in  either 
Church  might  transiently  commune  with 
the  other;  that  a  member  who  desired  to 
come  under  the  laying  on  of  hands,  might 
have  his  liberty  without  offense;  that  the 
votaries  of  the  rite  might  preach  or  debate 
upon  the  subject  with  all  freedom,  consistent 


AMERICAN'    BAPTISTS.  77 


With  brotherly  love."  This  arrangement  led 
to  the  very  general  observance  of  the  rite, 
for  the  account  which  Benedict  gives,  taken 
from  the  Welsh  Tract  Church  Book,  closes 
thus  : — 

"  From  that  time  forth  our  brethren  held 
BWeet  Communion  together  at  the  Lord's 
table,  and  our  minister  was  invited  to  preach 
and  assist  at  an  ordination  at  Pennepack, 
after  the  death  of  brother  Watts.  He  pro- 
ceeded from  thence  to  the  Jerseys,  where  he 
enlightened  many  in  the  good  ways  of  the 
Lord,  insomuch  that  in  three  years  after,  all 
the  ministers,  and  about  fifty-jive  'private  mem- 
bers had  submitted  to  the  ordinance."  To  this 
account  Benedict  adds  the  following  : — 

"  The  Welsh  Tract  Church  was  the  prin- 
cipal, if  not  the  sole  means  of  introducing 
singing,  imposition  of  hands,  Church  cove- 
nants, etc.,  among  the  Baptists  of  the  Middle 
States.  The  Century  Confession  was  in  Ame- 
rica before  the  year  1716,  but  without  the 
articles  which  relate  to  these  subjects;  that 
year  they  were  inserted  by  the  Rev.  Abel 
Morgan,  who  translated  the  Confession  to 
Welsh,  about  which  time  it  was  signed  by 
one  hundred  and  twenty-two  members  of 
this  Church.  These  articles  were  inserted 
in  the  next  English   edition,  and   adopted 


78  AMERICAN   BAPTISTS. 


with  the  other  articles  by  the  Philadelphia 
Association,  in  1742." — Benedict,  vol.  ii.  p.  6. 

This  practice  prevailed  in  other  parts  of 
the  United  States,  as  well  as  in  these  thus 
noticed  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting 
that  wherever  the  Baptists  of  that  day  went, 
they  carried  with  them  their  attachment  to 
this  rite.  It  was  so  in  Tennessee  and  Virgi- 
nia, according  to  the  same  author  we  have 
already  so  often  quoted.  An  Association  in 
the  latter  State  held  to  nine  Christian  rites, 
among  which  laying  on  of  hands  was  one. 
And  while  many  of  these,  after  a  time,  fell 
into  disuse,  Benedict  says  of  this :  n  The 
Ordinance,  as  they  esteem  it,  of  laying  on 
of  hands,  and  the  office  of  ruling  Elders, 
they  still  retain."— Vol.  ii.  p.  108. 

It  must  appear  from  these  quotations,  that 
the  laying  on  of  hands  was  of  very  general 
prevalence  among  the  first  Baptists  in  this 
country.  But  over  and  above  this  practice, 
we  have  their  declaration  in  favor  of  the  rite 
in  their  first  confession.  This  was  set  forth 
by  the  Philadelphia  Association,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1742.    The  35th  Chapter  of  this  Con- 


AMERICAN   BAPTISTS.  79 


fession  is  beaded,  "  Of  Laying  on  of  Hands," 
and  is  as  follows  : — 

"Wo  believe  that  laying  on  of  hands, 
with  prayer,  upon  baptized  believers,  as 
sueh,  is  an  ordinance  of  Christ,  and  ought  to 
be  submitted  unto  by  all  such  persons  as 
knitted  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, and  that  the  end  of  this  ordinance  is 
not  for  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit, 
but  for  the  farther  reception  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  or  for  the  addition  of  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  influences  there- 
of; to  confirm,  strengthen,  and  comfort  them 
in  Christ  Jesus ;  it  being  ratified  and  esta- 
blished by  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  primitive  times,  to  abide  in  the 
Church,  as  meeting  together  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  was,  that  being  the  day  of  wor- 
ship or  Christian  Sabbath,  under  the  gospel ; 
and  as  preaching  the  word  was,  and  as  bap- 
tism was,  and  prayer  was,  and  singing 
psalms,  etc.,  was,  so  this  laying  on  of 
hands  was ;  for  as  the  whole  gospel  was  con- 
firmed by  signs  and  wonders,  and  divers 
miracles  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  general,  so 
was  every  ordinance  in  like  manner  con- 
firmed in  particular."  The  texts  of  Scripture 
referred  to,  to  substantiate  this  Article,  are, 
Hebrews  vi.  1,  2;  Acts  viii.  17,  18;  xix.  6; 
Eph.  i.  13,  14,  etc. 

To  this  Confession  of  Faith  there  was  at 


80  AMERICAN  BAPTISTS. 


the  same  time  added  a  Treatise  of  Discipline, 
which  gives  the  following  directions  concern- 
ing the  manner  in  which  new  members  are 
to  be  received  into  Church  communion,  after 
having  given  a  satisfactory  account  of  their 
faith  and  experience : 

"  And  after  the  person  is  baptized  accord- 
ing to  the  institution  and  command  of  Christ, 
and  come  under  the  imposition  of  hands  of  the 
Elders  of  the  Church,  according  to  the  practice 
of  the  Apostles,  the  Pastor,  Minister,  or  Elders, 
as  presiding  in  the  acts  of  the  Church's 
power,  do  receive  such  an  one  into  the  com- 
munion and  fellowship  of  that  Church  in 
particular." 

I  am  indebted  for  these  extracts  from  this 
Confession  to  a  reprint  in  a  recent  work  by 
Professor  Cutting,  of  the  Eochester  Univer- 
sity, called  "  Historical  Vindications."  How 
this  Confession  was  received  and  regarded 
by  the  Baptists  generally,  we  can  best  learn 
by  reference  to  their  own  authorities.  Pro- 
fessor Cutting,  in  the  work  just  referred  to, 
says : 

"  The  cordial  reception  and  the  authorita- 
tive character  of  the  creed  statements  em- 
braced in  the  Confession,  are  beyond  ques- 


AMERICAN   BAPTISTS.  81 


tion.  From  a  period  a  little  later  than  this. 
to  the  end  of  the  century,  nearly  every  year 
a  chapter  of  the  Confession  was  made  the 
subject  of  a  Pastoral  Address  to  the  Churches. 
This  venerable  formulary  never,  indeed, 
usurped  the  place  of  the  Word  of  God ;  but 
distinctly,  cordially,  and  always,  it  was  a 
declaration  to  the  world  of  the  doctrines 
which  the  Association  regarded  as  taught 
in  the  Bible."  Historical  Vindications,  p. 
96. 

Again :  The  Minutes  of  this  Association 
were  republished  in  Philadelphia  in  1851  by 
a  Committee  consisting  of  Horatio  Jones, 
D.D.,  Howard  Malcom,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  D.  Gil- 
lette, Wilson  Jewell,  Joseph  Taylor,  and 
Wm.  Shadrack.  The  Preface  of  these  Min- 
utes says  of  this  Confession  of  1742  : 

"  It  is  in  substance  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Ancient  Baptists  in  Poland  and  Bohemia; 
and  of  the  Mennonists  in  Holland,  and  the 
early  English  and  Welsh  Churches.  This 
Confession  was  published  by  Ministers  and 
brethren,  representing  about  forty  Churches, 
met  in  London  in  1689.  It  was  printed  for 
the  Philadelphia  Association  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  numerous  editions  have  since 
been  issued.  Throughout  the  United  States, 
it  is  generally  considered  the  Standard  of  ortho- 
doxy among  Baptists." 


82  AMERICAN    BAPTISTS. 


The  same  difficulty,  however,  was  soon  ex- 
perienced in  the  Association  that  we  have 
seen  in  the  various  Congregations,  in  hold- 
ing fast  to  this  primitive  rite.  Without  the 
creeds,  the  Ministry,  and  the  Liturgy  of 
Apostolic  times,  this  primitive  ordinance 
could  not  long  be  retained.  And  so  we  find 
indications  of  lax  views  prevailing  in  the 
Association  in  reference  to  the  obligation  of 
Confirmation  as  early  as  1783.  The  Associ- 
ation of  this  year  answers  a  query  from  the 
Newtown  Church  in  reference  to  this  matter, 
as  follows : 

"  We  observe  that  imposition  of  hands  on 
baptized  persons  has  been  the  general  prac- 
tice of  the  Churches  in  union  with  this  Asso- 
ciation, and  is  still  used  by  most  of  them,  but 
it  was  never  considered  by  the  Association 
as  a  bar  of  Communion.  Resolved,  that  any 
person  scrupling  to  submit  thereto,  may  be 
admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Church 
without  it."  Minutes,  p.  194. 

So  hard  is  it  to  hold  fast  to  one  "  ordinance 
of  Christ"  without  all  his  institutions  in  their 
integrity!  In  1742,  this  was  declared  to  be 
"  an  ordinance  of  Christ,  which  ought  to  be 


AM  ERIC  AX    BAPTISTS.  Si 


submitted  unto  by  all  such  persons  as  are 
admitted  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;" 
and  only  forty  years  have  passed,  when  it 
is  given  up  to  the  "scrupling"  of  any 
one! 


METHODISTS. 


MR.  WESLEY. 

That  Mr.  Wesley  was  in  favor  of  Confir- 
mation there  can  be  little  doubt,  when  we 
remember  how  often  and  how  emphatically 
he  commends  the  "religion  of  the  Church 
of  England"  to  his  followers.  In  the  preface 
to  the  "  Methodist  Prayer  Book,"  which  Mr. 
Wesley  issued  in  1784,  is  the  following  testi- 
mony to  the  excellency  of  the  Liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England : 

"I  believe  there  is  no  Liturgy  in  the 
world,  either  in  any  ancient  or  modern  lan- 
guage, which  breathes  more  of  a  solid,  scrip- 
tural, rational  piety  than  the  Common  Prayer 
of  the  Church  of  England.  And  though  the 
main  of  it  was  compiled  more  than  two  hun- 
dred years  ago,  yet  is  the  language  of  it  not 
only  pure,  but  strong  and  elegant  in  the 
highest  degree.  Little  alteration  is  made  in 
(84) 


METHODISTS.  85 


the  following  edition  of  it,  which  T  recom- 
mend to  our  Societies  in  America.'1  Pn 
to  (he  "Sunday  Services  of  (he  Methodists  in 
North  America? 

It  would  be  easy  to  quote  many  such 
general  commendations  of  the  doctrines  and 
practices  of  the  Church  of  England,  in  which 
Mr.  Wesley  was  born,  and  in  which  he  died. 
Thus,  his  Sermons  contain  many  such  senti- 
ments as  these : 

"Methodism,  so  called,  is  the  old  religion, 
the  religion  of  the  Bible,  the  religion  of  the 
Primitive  Church,  the  religion  of  the  Church 
of  England."— Vol.  ii.  p.  493.  "  Whenever 
the  Methodists  leave  the  Church, God  will  leave 
them."— lb.,  p.  497.  "  We  do  not— will  not 
— form  any  separate  sect,  but,  from  principle, 
remain  what  we  always  have  been,  true  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  England."— p.  498. 

And  so  in  his  sermon  on  the  Ministerial 
Office. — Vol.  ii.  p.  542.  Mr.  Wesley  says: 
"  I  hold  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, I  hve  her  liturgy — /  approve  her  plan 
of  discipline,  and  only  wish  it  could  be  put  in 
execution''  As  Confirmation  is  so  very  pro- 
minent in  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  must  have  been  in  Mr.  Wesley's 
mind  when  he  made  this  statement. 

In   his  "Notes   on   the  New  Testament  " 
8 


86  METHODISTS. 


•under  Hebrews  vi.  1.,  lie  says — "And  when 
they  believed  they  were  baptized  with  the 
baptism  (not  of  the  Jews  or  John),  but  of 
Christ.  The  next  thing  was  to  lay  hands 
upon  them,  that  they  might  receive  the  Holy 
Grhost,  after  which  they  were  fully  instruct- 
ed touching  the  resurrection  and  the  general 
judgment." 

It  is  manifest  that  Mr.  Wesley  is  setting 
forth  that  exposition  of  the  principles  of  the 
doctrines  of  Christ,  which  he  regards  as  bind- 
ing upon  men  now — among  which  principles 
is  the  laying  on  of  hands  upon  Christians 
that  they  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  practice  of  the  first  Methodists  was  in 
conformity  with  these  views,  they  went  to 
the  Church  for  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, and  for  Confirmation  also.  Of  this  prac- 
tice the  case  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  given  be- 
low, is  an  instance. 


ADAM   CLAEKE. 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke  is  known  to  have  been  a 
man  of  great  piety,  and  one  of  the  most  learned 


ADAM    CLARKE.  87 


divines  ever  numbered  among  the  Methodists. 

Ilis  writings  are  deservedly  held  in  great 
:i  by  both  the  ministers  and  people  oi 
this  large  body.  Scattered  throughout  them 
there  are  to  be  found  many  statements  en- 
dorsing and  commending  what  are  thought 
to  be  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  giving  also  the  highest 
praise  to  the  learning,  piety,  and  devotion  of 
her  Bishops  and  Clergy.  Thus  he  says  of 
the  Prayer  Book : 

•  Next  to  the  Bible,  it  is  the  book  of  my  'un- 
derstanding and  of  my  heart? 

Again  he  says : 

"  I  was  born  so  to  speak  in  the  Church ; 
baptized  in  the  Church ;  brought  up  in  it  : 
confirmed  in  it,  by  that  most  apostolic  man, 
Dr.  Bagot,  Bishop  of  Bristol;  have  all  my 
life  held  uninterrupted  communion  with  it ; 
conscientiously  believe  its  doctrines,  and  have 
spoken  and  written  in  defense  of  it.  Being  bred 
up  in  its  bosom,  I  early  drank  in  its  salutary 
doctrines  and  spirit" — Life  of  A.  Clarke,  vol.  iii. 
pp.  110,  111,  Conference  Office,  X.  Y. 

Again  he  says  in  his  notes  on  1  Timothy 
iii.  13. 

"  Deacon,  Presbyter,  and  Bishop  existed  in 
the  Apostolic  Church,  and  therefore  may  be  con- 


88  ADAM    CLAEKE. 


sidered  of  Divine  authority."  And  under  the 
first  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  he  says :  "  In 
former  times  Bishops  wrote  much  and 
preached  much,  and  their  labors  were  greatly 
owned  of  God.  No  Church,  since  the  Apos- 
tles' days,  has  been  more  honored  in  this 
way  than  the  British  Church.  And  although 
Bishops  are  here,  as  elsewhere,  appointed  by 
the  State :  yet  we  cannot  help  adoring  the 
good  providence  of  God,  that,  taken  as  a 
body,  they  have  been  an  honor  to  their  func- 
tion. And  since  the  reformation  of  religion 
in  these  lands,  the  Bishops  have  been,  in 
general,  men  of  great  learning  and  probity ; 
and  the  ablest  advocates  of  the  Christian 
system,  both  as  to  its  authenticity,  and  the 
purity  and  excellence  of  its  doctrines  and 
morality." 

And  so  he  says  again,  under  Acts  i.  20 : — 

"Bishop,  is  a  Scriptural  and  sacred  title, 
was  gloriously  supported  in  the  primitive 
Church,  and  many  to  the  present  day  are  no 
less  ornaments  to  the  title,  than  the  title  is 
ornamental  to  them.  The  best  defenses  of  the 
truth  of  God,  and  the  Protestant  faith  are  in 
the  works  of  the  Bishops  of  the  British 
Churches." 

On   the   subject  of  Confirmation  we  have 


ADAM    CLARKE.  80 


from  this  same  distinguished  Methodist  very- 
full  and  interesting  testimony. 

Iu  the  firel  volume  of  his  life,  published 
by  the  Methodist  Book  Concern  at  New 
York  in  1833,  he  gives  the  following  account 
of  his  own  Confirmation  : 

"It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Bishop  of 
Bristol  held  a  Confirmation  in  the  Collegiate 
Church.  I  had  never  been  confirmed,  and 
as  I  had  a  high  respect  for  all  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  Church,  I  wished  to  em- 
brace this  opportunity  to  get  the  blessing  of 
that  amiable  and  apostolicdooking  prelate, 
Dr.  Lewis  Bagot.  I  asked  permission :  sev- 
eral of  the  preachers'  sons  went  with  me,  and 
I  felt  much  satisfaction  in  this  ordinance ;  to 
me  it  was  v>ery  solemn,  and  the  whole  was 
well  conducted.  Mr.  S.,  who  was  a  Presbyte- 
rian, pitied  my  being  so  '  long  held  in  the  old- 
ness  of  the  letter.'  I  have  lived  nearly  forty 
years  since,  and  upon  this  point  my  sentiments 
are  not  changed." — Life  of  Adam  Clarke, 
vol.  i.  p.  94. 

Again,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  same 
work  is  the  following  letter  written  by  Dr. 
Clarke  only  two  years  before  his  death : 

"Dear  Mrs.  Wilkinson: — You  wish  for 
my  opinion  on  the  subject  of  Confirmation. 
8* 


90  ADAM    CLAEKE. 


It  is  supposed  to  be  a  rite  by  which  the 
moral  burden  is  taken  off  the  shoulders  of 
the  sponsors,  and  transferred  to  those  shoul- 
ders to  which  it  properly  belongs.  Now,  as 
long  as  these  opinions  and  feelings  prevail 
in  the  minds  of  all  parties,  I  say,  in  God's 
name,  let  the  rite,  duly  administered,  be  hum- 
bly received ;  but  the  subjects  of  it  should 
be  well-informed,  that  by  it  they  have  not 
merely  performed  a  duty,  and  so  far  may 
have  an  easy  conscience,  but  in  addi- 
tion they  have  by  it  taken  a  strong  and 
perpetual  yoke  upon  their  necks,  in  their 
vow  ;to  renounce  the  Devil  and  all  his 
works,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked 
world,  and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh, 
and  that  they  should  keep  God's  holy  will 
and  commandments,  and  walk  in  the  same 
all  the  days  of  their  lives.'  This  is  no  ordi- 
nary obligation.  This  they  solemnly  take 
on  themselves  when  they  come  to  be  con- 
firmed, and  by  the  act  they  come  under  a 
new  and  perpetual  covenant,  to  give  them- 
selves wholly  to  God,  that  they  may  have  a 
thorough  '  death  unto  sin,'  and  a  complete 
'new  birth  unto  righteousness.'  Should  any 
young  person  say,  '  if  all  this  is  comprised  in 
being  confirmed,  then  I  will  not  be  con- 
firmed at  all.'  I  answer,  you  are  bound  to 
all  this  by  your  profession  of  Christianity. 
So   that,  confirmed   or   not   confirmed,  this 


ADAM    CLAKKE.  91 


yok<*  is  about  your  neck,  and  if  you  break 
it,  or  throw  it  away,  it  ia  at  the  peril  of  jrour 
final  destruction. 

Again    the    rite    itself  is   useful    to    call 
these  things  to  remembrance,  and  who  knows 
how  much    grace    may  be   received    during 
the  performance  of  the  ceremony,  and  espe- 
cially by  having  a   holy  man's    hands  laid 
on  your  head,  and  the  blessing   and  protec- 
tion of  God  solemnly  invoked  in   your  be- 
half?   Tell  these  things  to  your  dear  daugh- 
ters and   sons,  and  tell  them  another  thing 
of  which  lew  would  think— namely,  that  not 
having  had  the  opportunity  of  being  con- 
firmed when  I  had  arrived  at  that  age  at 
which  I  had  an  ecclesiastical  right  to  receive 
it,  I  was  determined  not  to  be  without  it, 
and  therefore  went  and  received  Confirmation 
even  since  I  became  a  Methodist  preacher.    Yes, 
I  was  confirmed  in   the  Collegiate   Church' 
at  Bristol,  in  the  year  1782,  by  that  very 
holy  man,  Dr.  Lewis  Bagot,  then  Bishop  of  that 
see,  and  afterward  Bishop  of  Norwich.    You 
see   now,    my   good   sister,  both    from   my 
teaching  and  from  my  practice,  what  I  think 
of  the  rite  of  Confirmation,  and  I  will  just 
add  one  word  more.     I  believe  the  rite  will 
be  very  solemnly  administered  by  the  Bishop 
of  London,  who  will  go  through  the  whole 
with   an    honest  conscience  before  God.     I 
have   sometimes  thought   I  should  write  a 


92  DR.   BANGS. 


little  tract  on  this,  as  I  did  on  the  third  Col- 
lect for  grace,  now  called  'The  Traveler's 
Prayer.' — Adam  Clarke." — Life  of  Adam 
Clarke,  vol.  iii.  p.  123. 


DR.    BANGS. 

Dr.  Bangs,  a  very  prominent  Methodist 
preacher  in  this  country,  wrote  a  work  called 
" An  Original  Church  of  Christ"  in  which  he 
says  of  Confirmation : 

"That  this  apostolic  practice  was  and 
should  be  continued  in  the  Church  is  not 
doubted.  Indeed  I  consider  Baptism  but 
half  performed  unless  the  application  of  water 
to  the  body  is  followed  by  the  imposition  of 
hands  and  prayer,  that  the  blessings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  descend  upon  the  subjects 
of  this  holy  ordinance." —  Original  Church,  p. 
322. 


CONCLUSION. 

WlTH  a  little  more  time  given  to  the  sub- 
ject, it  would  be  quite  possible  to  add  many 
more  adynissiojis  of  the  same  kind,  and  from 
the  same  sources  as  those  given  above. 
These,  however,  are  amply  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  in  view,  and  have  already  made  a 
little  book  of  what  was  at  first  intended  to 
be  but  a  little  tract.  The  testimony  thus 
given  in  favor  of  the  rite  of  Confirmation,  is 
from  those  who,  for  learning  and  piety,  were, 
without  question,  the  most  distinguished 
men  in  these  various  religious  denomina- 
tions. Their  knowledge  of  Scripture  and 
of  the  early  history  of  Christianity,  left  no 
room  to  question  the  apostolic  origin  of  this 
ordinance ;  and  their  experience  in  the  Chris- 
tian Ministry  brought  the  conviction  that, 
while  it  was  of  this  inspired  authority,  it 
was  also  of  the  highest  practical  importance 
in  the  Christian  Scheme. 

The  testimony  thus  given  establishes  these 

(93) 


94  CONCLUSION. 


three  points. — That  the  rite  of  Confirmation 
was  instituted  by  the  inspired  Apostles  of  Jesus 
Christ,  to  be  of  perpetual  duration  in  the 
Church.  That  it  was  universally  practised 
for  the  first  fifteen  hundred  years.  That  it 
is  still  of  great  practical  utility,  and  that  no 
modern  expedient  tvill  serve  its  place  and  pur- 
pose. When  we  remember  the  ability  these 
men  possessed  for  investigating  this  subject, 
and  that  their  prejudices  would  naturally 
lead  them  to  a  different  conclusion,  such 
testimony  would  seem,  to  a  candid  and 
truth-loving  mind,  an  "  end  of  controversy." 

In  the  extracts  given  from  the  writings  of 
these  distinguished  divines  there  are  inciden- 
tal principles  of  great  interest  and  import- 
ance, which  it  would  be  well  to  notice  par- 
ticularly, if  our  space  allowed. 

The  deference  paid  to  the  authority  of  the 
Primitive  and  Apostolic  Church,  the  weight 
given  to  the  historic  testimony  of  the  early 
days  of  Christianity,  and  the  talcing  for 
granted  that  the  Fathers  were  competent  and 
credible  witnesses  concerning  the  doctrines 
and  customs  of  their  own  times,  should  be 
particularly  noticed  by  those  of  the  present 


CONCLUSION.  95 


day  who  have  so  little  reverence  for  the 
past.  There  waa  evidently  no  notion,  in 
tlie  minds  of  these  distinguished  divines  and 
scholars,  of  a  n>  W  Church,  or  of  new  dot-trim* 
and  ">  w  riti  %  and  customs. 

The  compiler  has  been  perhaps  more  inter- 
ested in  the  history  of  this  rite  among  the 
Baptists  than  in  any  other  denomination. 
It  is  certainly  a  very  instructive  history,  and 
its  lesson  of  warning  to  all  Christian 
people.  That  lesson  is, — that  the  Church 
of  God  which  has  been  ordained  for  the 
preservation  and  perpetuation  of  his  Word 
and  Ordinances,  must  be  kept  and  guard- 
ed m  its  integrity,  or  we  shall  lose  one 
after  another  of  the  most  precious  and 
vital  of  its  truths.  If  Episcopacy,  and  the 
Creeds,  and  the  Liturgy  of  the  primitive 
Church  had  been  retained,  then  Confirmation 
could  easily  have  been  retained  also ;  but 
when  any  one  of  these  great  anchorages  of 
the  Faith  is  abandoned,  no  one  can  tell 
whither  the  vessel  which  bears  the  precious 
trust  may  drift,  or  upon  what  shoal  or  rock 
it  may  wreck. 


